Rebuilding Everything
by MoonlightPhoenix3
Summary: This is about after Apocalypse was defeated and how all of the mutants everywhere are dealing with it and what he did. Chapter 23 up!
1. XMen

MP3: I'm back! I can update again!!! Yay!! Remember that all of you are great and these are some great OCs and they will do well other places. It's just that I don't really need them in this story, so please people , don't take offense! Here they are (in no particular order)in case you forgot. It'll go Character's First Name- Codename- Author.  
  
~~ X-Men ~~ Nathaniel- Kaiser- Deacon Keyaira- Key- Miss. Perfect's shadow Cassidy- Cherub- LonleyPoet Andrew- Pixel- Aop85 Ryan (Archer)- Lynx- rogue phoenix Mike- Blender- Thunderfox 150  
  
~~ Brotherhood ~~ Darcy- Mem- Holly Rose E Anne- Dryad- Mille Nomina Seyla- Kitsune- ReikaiPrincess Daniel- Ghost- THE UNKNOWN REVIEWER Denise- Vesuvius- Dee Saylors Jason- Hydro- Arika Kamiya  
  
~~ Acolytes ~~ Josephina- Aurora- pyroyoko Alyssa- Seraphim- Alyssa Triper Samantha- Maelstrom- SOMEONE2003 Tenzo- Liquid- Tenzo Faith- Zephyr- Crimson Zephyr  
  
Also, I had some free rovers that I had to use so here they are. ~~Rebels~~ Kara- Voodoo- Lex Afat- Snake- GenoX Havok(His real name)- Havok- forgottenhavok  
  
And now for .*drum roll* THE REAL STORY!!! ""-Talking ''-Thinking ##-Whatever group I'm talking about (Also means scene change) *******************************************************  
  
# The X-Men #  
  
Professor Charles Xavier surveyed his students from a second-story balcony as they trained on the premises of the Institute, watching both their progress and the road. It did not surprise him in the least when Logan, Hank, Ororo, and a tiny blonde girl came up behind him. The child scampered forward and tried to jump into the Professor's lap. He smirked and pulled the girl up by her armpits, settling her quickly before glancing back up at the road. The other adults walked forward to stand equal with him, the blonde child grinning at first Hank, then Ororo, but when her eyes met with Logan's, she burrowed her face in Xavier's shirt. The man grunted in response and the others laughed. Ororo grabbed the child around her waist, pulling her onto her hip. The girl rested her head on Ororo's shoulder as the dark-skinned woman adjusted to the weight. Logan grunted again and looked down at Xavier. "Chuck, when did we start accepting toddlers to this school? Seems like a waste." Hank chuckled jovially and patted the gruff man on his arm.  
"On the contrary Logan, I believe Cassidy is a wonderful addition to  
this little family. Besides, even you would have to admit that later  
on in her life, Ms. Schwartz's abilities would be quite troublesome." The doorbell interrupted their thoughts and forced them all to look around, bewildered. Cassidy Schwartz wriggled out of Ororo's hold and ran for the door that led to the stairs. Ororo and Hank rushed after her. Logan grunted again as he looked out over the balcony as Xavier looked toward the drive. Two cars had appeared in the driveway and the students were all pointing and speculating. He spun his wheelchair around and moved out of the room and into an elevator that was directly opposite the small study. Before the doors closed, Logan stepped out of the study and Xavier called a request to him.  
"If you could tell the arrivals to meet with me in my main study, I  
would be quite grateful." Logan grunted and moved toward the stairs. He heard the elevator's doors open downstairs but moved down the stairs regardless. He looked up to see Hank, Ororo, and Cassidy standing in the entry hall with a two teenagers and a middle-aged woman. The woman looked to be about in her forties with pale blonde hair, striking green eyes, and pale skin. She was clad simply in a pair of blue jeans, plain brown loafers, and a loose brown blouse that hung well on her broad shoulders. She had wrapped her arms around her waist, leaning on the female teenager for support. This girl was nearly 5 inches taller than her older companion and easily matched her shoulders for width. She also had pale skin, flashing hazel eyes, and long golden blonde hair that extended to her butt. Her outfit was anything but plain though with baggy blue jeans, a long-sleeved black shirt, black lace-up boots, and black hand gloves all topped off by a long sleeveless white trenchcoat with a high collar. Her eyes met Logan's and he felt as though he had seen them before. He shook it off and turned to look at the other teenager, quickly realizing that he wasn't a teen at all. The man was 6'2 and weighed more than 200 pounds, Logan deduced quickly. (A/N-Don't ask me how he just figured it out but he did!) His dark brown hair was formed into many shoulder-length dreadlockes that hung loose about his slightly tanned face. The man was looking about the room, his eyes resting on everything but the other people occupying it. Logan had to blink when he noticed that the man's eyes were glowing gold. The man held a bag over his shoulder as though it weighed nothing. He finished the descent down the stairs and tried to smile politely at the middle-aged woman. She seemed to brighten at his attempt and lifted her head off her younger companion. Logan was about to greet them when suddenly Cassidy ran from Hank's tickling fingers and hid behind the teenager's jeans-clad legs. All eyes fell on the five-year old, clutching at the stranger's legs, completely oblivious to the fact that a person was attached to them. The dreadlocked man looked quickly from the child to the teenager, waiting for the older girl to react. She took a deep breath before looking down and swiveling her body so that she faced the child. The five year-old realized that the intense hazel eyes were focused on her and gasped, standing up straighter but not loosening her grip. They locked eyes, neither giving up, the child out of fear and the teenager out of amusement although it wasn't very clear on her face. Her voice was deliberate yet sweet when she spoke to Cassidy, the tiniest hint of a Russian accent apparent.  
"You are just the most adorable thing. Who, might I ask, are you?" Cassidy broke into a wide smile and replied in a sweet innocent voice with a tiny lisp.  
"Cassidy Schwartz. My friends all call me Cherub or Rubi. Will you be  
one of my friends now?" The teen returned her wide smile and held back a laugh.  
"I certainly hope so Cassidy. Can I call you Cassy though? I think I  
might forget Rubi." The child nodded enthusiastically and wrapped her arms around the other girl's neck. Logan had to smile as the older girl dragged Cassy into the air as she stood upright, but was startled when he heard the main door thump shut. Standing in the doorway was a skinny girl of medium height with a head of black hair highlighted with purple streaks that brushed the top of her black tank top. (A/N- Sorry if this isn't how you meant her Miss Perferct but I need to be a bit descriptive!) The tank top revealed a small expanse of skin above her lowrise jeans hung over the toes of her black boots. His eyes caught quickly on four jagged scars on her left arm that ran from her wrist to her elbow. She loosely held onto a ragged duffle bag that had fallen to her feet. The new teen looked around at everyone, apparently nervous and out of place, then met her emerald eyes with Logan's. Another bell of recognition went off in his head, but he couldn't place it and shook it off, just as before. Logan opened his mouth but before he could say anything, Hank spoke in his mellow voice, which seemed to calm the four restless people. "Welcome to the Xavier Institute. I assume you are all here to see Charles Xavier?" All of the strangers nodded, the new teen most deliberately of all, her eyes preoccupied. Hank nodded, more to himself than anything and beckoned them towards the hallway that led to Xavier's main office. Hank began the walk and the others followed, first the dreadlocked man, then the raven- haired teen, and followed by the middle-aged woman. Ororo held out her hand and Cassidy wriggled until the blonde put her down. The teen took off after her companion and both Ororo and Cassidy went down a separate hallway, the five year-old chattering like no tomorrow. The other group, led by Hank, had reached the open doors of the study and were standing on the threshold, waiting for the Professor to draw them in. The Professor was sitting behind his desk, organizing papers until Logan cleared his throat and he looked up out, slightly startled. He waved his hand, calling out to them in an assuring tone,  
"Come in and welcome, all of you. I'm Professor Charles Xavier but you  
have all probably figured that out by now." The two blonde women chuckled and a smile spread on the man's face. The other teen looked even more nervous then before.  
"All of you, please, take a seat. Hank, Logan, if you two would excuse  
us. Oh, and Hank, if any new students arrive please send them in." Ororo stepped into the doorway, grinning slightly.  
"You won't have to wait for that Charles. They're here already." Charles' eyebrows rose impossibly as in walked three more teenage boys of varying heights and builds. The shortest was skinny with shaggy brown hair, glasses over his brown eyes, and pale skin that secured his label as a 'comic book geek'. Slung over one shoulder was a blue bookbag and carelessly dropped to his sandaled feet was a shapeless one-strapped bag of the same color. He wore a pair of faded jeans shorts and a bright red shirt that declared in big letters that the space needle wasn't all that great. The second boy was about inch taller with tanned skin and messy black hair that flopped into his brown eyes. He was wearing baggy black pants and a long black baggy T-shirt, but his shoes were obscured by a black suit case. They seemed positively preppy next to the third boy, who was trying desperately to hide his fingers, which were each capped by a claw. This teen rose four full inches above his fellows with a solid but seemingly agile build. His hair was long and black, a stray strand falling over ones of his green eyes that had the slant pupil a cat's would. Jutting out behind his long hair were two fuzzy gray-brown cat ears each pierced three times by a silvery earring. He wore black cargos, a studded black belt, and a form fitting long-sleeved black T-shirt. His feet were also obscured by a large black duffle bag. Each boy looked at the Professor with a separate emotion yet he seemed to take them all in at once. Storm lade a reassuring hand on the tallest's shoulder, giving him a trusting smile and a nod. He seemed to relax a little, but balled his fist out of determination.  
"Storm, please show the boys to their rooms. Andrew and Mike, you'll  
be sharing a room and Ryan, you will be rooming with Bobby. Note that  
I will expect all three of you to attend dinner promptly at seven. You  
are dismissed." All the boys scooped up their things and followed Ororo out. The Professor folded his hands and began again in an even commanding voice that was also beyond gentle.  
"This is all running together I see, so it will have to be cut a  
little short. Nathaniel Calina Washington meet Anastacia Selena Marko.  
You two will be the oldest students at the Institute, so you'll have  
you're own rooms." Both stood up quickly, Anastacia nervously brushing at her jeans then gripping his outstretched hand with her gloved one. They smiled politely at each other then looked back at Xavier as he continued.  
"I'd like you both to meet Keyaira Creed, she'll be staying here as  
well." Keyaira waved shakily at them and they both favored her with a smile.  
"Keyaira, due to the odd number of female students currently, you'll  
be in your own room until more arrive. Hank can show you three to your  
rooms and I expect you all to be at dinner as well. Maria, if we could  
have a few words?" Maria nodded and snapped her fingers and a suitcase and a backpack appeared next to her chair. Anastacia scooped them up and pecked the older woman on the cheek. Maria gasped and tried to pull back but a gloved hand on her other cheek prevented it. A small shudder passed through Anastacia and she pulled away, smiling at the woman. She stood straight again and along with Hank, they left to find their rooms. Maria wiped a corner of her eye and turned towards the Professor again, speaking in a Russian accent that was thicker than her daughter's.  
"It is so hard to see them grow up. Especially Anastacia. The taller  
she gets, in only makes me think more of when she was a baby. When she  
always needed my help and now I cannot help her at all. I hope that  
you can help her Charles. I hope that you can give her the answers she  
needs. She is in your hands now." Logan stood a bit straighter, clearly uncomfortable. Maria turned, her beautiful face streaked by sparse tears, and gave him another radiant smile. Xavier broke through the moment by saying,  
"Maria, this is my colleague Logan. He resides here and helps protect  
the children. Logan, this is Maria Kimirsev." Maria stood at her full name, turning towards him. Logan crossed the distance and stuck out his hand, instantly wishing it wasn't gloved. The hand shake was firmer than he'd expected but it did not matter. Maria smiled again, and still looking directly at him, said something indistinct in Russian. Charles Xavier chuckled in the background and replied in Russian. If anything, the woman's smile grew brighter as she replied,  
"It's very nice to meet you Logan. I hope that I can see you again  
next time I visit. But I really must be going now. Thank you for your  
time." They let go of the handshake and Maria turned quickly toward the Professor muttering quickly,  
"Charles, if you need me, you know where to reach me. And don't let  
her touch people on purpose. She does it all the time and it's a total  
disregard to her own safety. If she does, you have every right to bop  
her on the head. Thanks a lot, but I have got to go." She bustled over to Xavier's side of the desk, pecked him on cheek, and rushed out of the room before either man could react. Logan stared after where she had just left and fell into one of the chairs with a plop. Charles chuckled in a patronizing way, zooming out form his desk and out the door, yelling behind, "You know if you like Maria all you had to do was say so." The gruff man shook his head rapidly, and rose from the chair, rushing after Charles Xavier, yelling as well. **************************************** This you've already seen. Enjoy!  
  
I do not own X-Men:Evo or any of the new OCs I picked!!! I do own my own characters though and if you steal them I will hunt you down!!!  
  
I love my reviewer so tell me what you think!! Now I have to go collapse from all the writing! *Bleh!* So what did you guys think? OKKKK, I'm done NOW!!!!!!!!!! 


	2. Brotherhood

MP3 again. Next up on my list to introduce are the Brotherhood. Don't worry people, the Acolytes will be next. Disclaimer is also still unavailable so I will be the one saying that.  
  
I do not own X-Men:Evolution or any of the original characters submitted to me by reviewers. I do however own my own characters although none of them show up in this chappie!  
  
IMPORTANT NOTICE! All of my reviewers who had your OC selected and did not write a love interest had better either submit one to me or suffer my choices! Because I will choose for you! Note that you cannot choose Remy, Scott, Kurt, Bobby, Pyro, Warren, Piotr, Pietro, Wanda, Kitty, or Amara. People please! All you need is love and I will have love in this fiction! I WILL!!! And now. The Brotherhood!!(Note that this takes place on the same day as the X-Men getting the new recruits)  
  
""-Talking ''-Thinking ##-Whatever group I'm talking about or scene change ************************************************ Another sickeningly beautiful day at the Brotherhood Boarding House with all of its occupants spread throughout, amusing themselves. Fred and Todd were sitting on the couch, watching pointless cartoons with Wanda stretched out on an armchair, reading. Pietro was upstairs brushing his hair and had been doing so for the past half hour and Lance was leaning against the kitchen counter, absently eating cereal. Pietro having finished his hair, rushed down the stairs, knocking into a clean-cut boy in a nice pair of jeans, a button-down white shirt, and white sneakers. The boy fell against one of the dirty walls, his short brown hair not moving an iota, his brown eyes boring into Pietro. The speed demon mumbled at him before zipping of to the kitchen.  
"Sorry, Dan-man! Didn't see you there. But then again that's the  
point, right?" Daniel rubbed a spare pink hand over each shoulder and responded in his clipped intelligent voice, a hint of his British accent only slightly apparent.  
"That's quite all right Pietro. I wasn't paying attention, it won't  
happen again." Pietro mumbled something and emerged with a piece of toast jammed into his mouth. Daniel nodded as though he understood and continued his ascent. Both boys were looked at the front door in shock as it fell to the ground with a thump, sending up puffs of dust. Lance walked in, a bowl full of cereal poised in one hand, cereal in his mouth, when it opened suddenly, milk pouring out, and the bowl clattering to the floor. A short girl with her dark brown hair in a high ponytail and her emerald green eyes confident stepped on top of the door, hands on her hips, smiling like a fiend. She wore baggy camouflage pants, a camo vest over a black tanktop, black fingerless gloves, black combat boots, and silvery army dog-tags with her name and birthday. Her clothes hung well on her strong but feminine form, her black tanktop revealing tanned skin and the beginning of a diagonal scar on her right shoulder. All of the boys gaped at her in shock and her smile grew wider. "Hey, Lancey-boy! How's my favorite cousin doing?" Pietro and Daniel turn to look at Lance, who is still standing and staring in shock. The girl walked farther into the hall, motioning behind her, seemingly for others to follow her. Three girls behind her stuck their heads into the door, eyeing the Brotherhood boys around their apparent leader. One stepped over the threshold, her black sneakers pushing the door farther into the carpet. She was tall with striking teal eyes and shoulder length brown hair confined into two pigtails that brushed the top of her red bell-sleeved shirt over plain blue jeans. Daniel caught his breath as their eyes locked and the girl smiled slightly, moving onto the carpet and letting a slightly shorter girl step onto the door. The pale girl blushed slightly as she realized the boys were looking at her, swinging her head so that her long auburn french braid thunked against the door frame. She was slightly pudgier than her companions but it was hidden both by her clothes and the curves she possessed. Her large hazel peeked out from behind circular wire-rimmed glasses and scanned the room quickly. A spare strand of hair flew onto her forehead and she brushes it to the side and off of a minute scar on her forehead. She stuck a hand into the pocket of her brown leather bootleg pants which brushed the top of her short brown leather boots. A loose forest green peasant blouse hung well on her thin shoulders, accented by a gold chain with a circular gold pendant watch. The lid had emerald green enamel inside the gold 'frame' and a raised gold Celtic cross in the center. The girl smiled sweetly and beckoned to her companion behind her. The third and final girl stepped through, brushing a few strands of strawberry blonde hair off her lightly freckled face. Her large pale blue eyes were filled with innocence and shock at the crumbling Victorian house, her small plump mouth parted. She filled the door as she entered, her form slightly meaty and of a middle height. She wore a thin white long-sleeved shirt, camo pants, black fingerless gloves, and Adidas gym shoes. She looked around the dirty walls and let out a low whistle. "God, I need to wash my hands." The first girl laughed and gave her a teasing smile. "It's not that bad, Darcy. It could be worse actually. Knowing my cousin, it could have been a hole in the ground." She giggled and the auburn-haired girl glared at her.  
"You brought us to this place , Denise, saying that we would be safe.  
Saying that we would have a place to stay. You never said it's current  
occupants would stare at us like we're insects." She glared at the open-mouthed Todd, before turning it on Denise herself. Lance shook his head and tore into his cousin himself.  
"What are they talking about Denny? What are you doing here?" One of the unnamed girls smiled to herself and stepped forward.  
"We're here because, like you, we're all mutants with no place to  
stay. And places that don't want us or places we don't want to be. We  
met Denise and all the pieces fell in place. Right, girls?" Denise nodded rapidly and responded completely unfazed. "Seyla, I couldn't have put it better myself." Seyla returned the smile and nodded as Denise whipped around, chattering to Lance.  
"We're staying Lancey-poo. All of us. Besides, it looks like you need  
a few more girls around here." Denise eyes Wanda warily, giving her a weak smile. Wanda looks thoughtful when a sudden spray of water hits her from the side. She looks over and scowled at the boy grinning from the top of the stairs.  
"Yeah, definitely more girls. Especially since that menace got here." The boy laughed and pushed his long black hair out of his face. His brown eyes danced as he looked over each of the new girls, the scar over his left eyebrow barely noticeable. He walked down the stairs to take a seat on the fourth step, ignoring Wanda's death glare and glancing at Lance.  
"Let them stay. We need some females around this place anyway. The  
perfume will drown out Todd's stink." Daniel, still standing at the top of the stairs, chuckles lightly and nods in agreement. "Jason has his point. Anything to drown out that stench would be welcome." Jason reclined against the stairs, stretching out a long jean clad leg and adjusting his black sweat-shirt hem. That motion caught Darcy's eye and she whipped her head to look down at it. Jason looked down as well then looked up to meet her eyes. For a second, they stared at each other before Pietro could snap the entire room back to attention. "Well, if you're staying, you better go get your stuff." The girls nodded simultaneously as the next things Pietro said ran together.  
"Thisisthemainhall, whereweneverareanyway.  
Itleadstoeverywhereelseinthehouselikethekitchen, thelivingroom,  
andtheupstairs.  
Doyoufourmindroomingtogetherbecausewedon'treallyhavethatmanyrooms?  
I'dlovetostayandchatbutIreallygottadash." Seyla let out a low whistle and stared at the speed demon. "Do you do that often? Is it a special technique or do you skip breathing all together?" Pietro winked at the tall blonde and responded heartily. "Breathing is for the weak!"* Before she could say anything, the thin Maximoff dashed out, sending a cloud of dust flying. Fred and Todd retreated to their cartoons, Wanda reading on a lounge chair nearby. Jason gave each of the new girls a smooth smile before brushing out the front door, knocking into Anne's shoulder and she fell forward slightly. She would have fallen more if not for Daniel, who had rushed down the stairs to help with the luggage. Anne tilted her face up to see him smiling and returned it warmly. He helped her stand upright and all of them went out to the front lawn to retrieve the baggage. Lance had loosened up a bit and was whispering heatedly to his cousin. She replied by laughing like a maniac. The others shook their heads and seeing that, all began laughing themselves. *************************************************************** Okay people, I'm finally done with this chappie and now I can have a break. Right *reviewers hold up a sign that says 'no!'* Ah! the work of an authoress is never done! No seriously people, bear with me! I have a jam- packed life, so it will be at least until next Wednesday or Thursday before I can start WRITING the next chapter. Deal with it, my loyal reviewers, deal with it. It's not that I don't love the Acolytes (quite the opposite! I love them!!!), they just came last on the list I planned to do this stuff on. Review, people, I love reviews. MP3 signing out for a while!!!  
  
*This is a gift to my best friend, forgottenhavok, because I was channeling Pietro and talking like he does today!! Black Cherry Poison, my gurl, I told you I would do this!!! 


	3. Acolytes

Rebuilding Everything by: MoonlightPhoenix3  
  
MP3 back again. Sorry it took so long update. I had a killer book report due and I needed time to recover. Not to mention a three-day weekend in Miami, so most of this was written on my ancient laptop with the ten-inch screen. Actually, this author's note was written at a debate competition because I wasn't doing much except doodling and staring at the cute boys around the room. Anyway, first of all, I found a new cage for Disclaimer. Now whenever he speaks, it's all translated to say the word 'bunnies'. Listen.  
  
Disclaimer: Bunnies! Bunnies, bunnies!  
  
Ha! Real manly Disclaimer! (Yes, Disclaimer is a guy!) Second, to the people who submitted OCs with family ties to Evo characters, this is for you. First, I'm not going to change or omit those ties because I like them. It makes for a very interesting fiction with room for background and relationships. Most of this will be addressed in later chapters as I planned when I picked these OCs. Note! If I plan to change your OCs in any way, I will e-mail you with questions and possible situations. If you receive one of these e-mails, e-mail me back and do not respond on the review board. Responding on the review board could reveal pieces of my intended plot. Yes, people, I do have a plot in mind so don't act so shocked. Thanks for dealing with me and for my notes and all my incessant ramblings. I love to ramble like that and you'll just have to deal with it if you like my story. Now for your chappie I slaved so long over!  
  
Acolytes chapter......NOW! ""-Talking ''-Thinking ##-Whatever group I'm talking about or scene change (Also know that this is on the same day as the two previous chapters) *I don't do accents, but I do try to imitate the way the character would talk* ***************************************************************** All seemed quiet and beautiful at Magneto's metal dome high in the Canadian Rockies. Remy LaBeau was playing a game of solitaire, humming a tune and occasionally singing certain lines in low mumbled French. He looked down at his fellow team mates from his perch on one of the metal beams serving as rafters. Piotr Rasputin was moving more boxes in his metal form. 'Merde,', Remy thought, 'Tin-man'll be moving boxes forever.' Piotr unloaded his final box and growled something at St. John Allerdyce. The Aussie let out his trademark maniacal laugh and snapped open his Zippo lighter, cradling the tiny flame. With a flick of his fingers it extended and grew, taking the shape of a tall curvaceous girl, dancing very suggestively. The flame disappeared as John's head flew forward, smacked by a slender female hand, the black punk bracelets slapping together lightly. The girl stepped out of the shadow and Remy recognized Josephina Maximoff, a scowl on her beautifully thin face. Magneto's adopted daughter scolded the pyromaniac, as though he were an errant puppy.  
"God, you pervert! Can't you put your powers to some good use?? Make  
s'mores or something just don't do that! Peter's helping and you're  
perfectly capable! Just do something!!" She shook her head of bronze hair in frustration, two or three of the waist length braids hitting John in the face. He winced and fell over dramatically, howling in false pain.  
"Aye, me eye!! You've blinded me, sheila! How can I be a good acolyte  
if I'm blind?" He snapped up to stare at her accusingly, one hand over his left eye, still overly dramatic.  
"How, I ask you, how???" Another feminine hand smacked against the back of John's head, sending him howling again and forcing a steely chuckle out of Piotr. The second girl stepped forward, laughing at John's reaction and scuffing her white tennis shoes against the stone floor, absently adjusting the hem of her midnight blue shirt over her dark blue jeans. Her blues eyes danced as she jokingly scolded the pair.  
"Stop complaining, you little Aussie drama queen. You're not hurt!  
And, you Josephina, abusing our team members! Shame! Piotr, darling,  
you were wonderful. Just do whatever it is you were doing because you  
do that best." She turned quickly on her heel and stalked off in good humor, stray dirty blonde hairs flying out of the bun at the base of her neck. Josephina giggled and skipped off to other business. The pyromaniac stared off in the direction the blonde had stalked off in. He whistled and rubbed his head where she had smacked him, tousling his fiery hair.  
"I'd kill that girl if she weren't so damn cute. But why does she have  
to hit so hard?" Piotr shrugged, an action that sounded far more severe as the metal plates on his shoulders shifted.  
"Perhaps Samantha shares her affection for you through this violence?" The teen shrugged and the two boys split apart, moving to separate activities, Piotr to more heavy lifting, John to his lewd fire sculptures. Remy turned backed to his card game, intent on beating the smiling suits of royalty at their own game. He was interrupted by a rushing of air and the flutter of wings. Glancing up quickly, he was met by a pair of laughing emerald eyes. He scowled at the blonde girl as she caught her breath and softly beat her large feathery black wings.  
"Faith, you're gonna knock my game to pieces. Be careful, you know  
those things create a real stir." Faith threw her head to one side, laughing, letting her hair brush against the tops of her bare shoulders. AS she laughed fitfully, he scanned the outfit she wore all the time. A crimson violet spaghetti strap belly-shirt exposing a small stretch of skin above her lowrise dark blue jeans accented by a studded black belt. She swung her legs like a child, her black combat boots making her feet look much larger. Her laughing stopped abruptly and she looked at him, sickeningly sweet.  
"Rem, you're such a baby when it comes to your little cards. You never  
want to play a good game of 52 card pick-up. Especially from this  
height. Honestly, it's a blast, Gumbo." Remy smiled at her and began pulling his cards into one neat pile, convinced that he wouldn't ever really finish it on his own. Faith let go of the edges of the rafters, helping to gather the cards, taking his pile and counting each of the cards as she went. Slowly counting the last two cards, she looked up sternly and almost accusing.  
"Remy, there are only 51 cards here. How can you honestly play any  
card game with only 51 cards? Where's the missing card? WHAT's the  
missing card?" He grimaced, wishing that for once she didn't know him so well. She pounced on the expression, eagerly scooting closer to him on the rafter.  
"Which one is it Remy? All your cards mean something to you and it's a  
big thing for you to give them away. Which one is it???" He took a deep breath, seemingly ready to spill, swinging his leg to sit as she was. Unfortunately, Faith was so intent on the answer that she barely realized it as his leg thumped into her back and she flew off the rafter. She squawked, falling a few feet before beating her wings rapidly and gaining control. He laughed uncontrollably as she huffed then flapped off, leaving him to wipe the tears from his eyes. Faith settled on the stone floor, flicking her wings reflexively and sending another glare up at Remy. Suddenly, the heavy clang of metal shook all of the inhabitants of the dome. They all quickly dropped what they were doing, rushing to the open area, most wheezing from the effort except for Faith and Piotr, who had already been there. Remy jumped, landing as a cat would, and glanced at his teammates. There was no time for conversation as Magneto, otherwise known as Eric Magnus Lensher, Sabertooth, and two teenagers walked into the main area. One of the teens was a blonde girl of medium height with a gymnast's muscular body. Her clear green eyes were confidant and her expression smug as she gazed through the small crowd then at Magneto. She was wearing a white spaghetti strap tanktop with a little angel holding a heart, a knee length denim skirt, and white flip-flops. She shifted her weight, turning a curious gaze upon the other new arrival, Magneto between them blocking her view a little. This boy was much taller, reaching for the 6'0 ft. mark and made more imposing by his lean but muscular build. He looked more bored than anything, casually sweeping his black hair back out of his eyes and adjusting his photo-chromatic glasses(check the profile if you don't know). His unbuttoned half-sleeved black shirt hung well over a plain white shirt and black jeans. Silver glinted all over him, from the fastenings of his black boots to the silver Swatch adorning his left wrist. The edge of a tattoo peeked out from his shirt sleeve but only the tiniest piece. Faith unknowingly studied him, her mouth gaping open and her eyes traveling up and down in a searching manner. The teen cracked a smile and tilted his head, the small scar on the side of his jaw visible for the first time. Faith caught herself and began nervously fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. The boy chuckled softly and scuffed the toe of his boot against the stone floor. Magneto judged the reactions before speaking in his commanding voice.  
"My acolytes, I bring to you two new members, exceptional in their  
abilities above all other candidates. This is Alyssa Triper, known as  
Seraphim. She is my niece, so you would do well to contain your foul  
opinions of me when she is around." Alyssa smiled sweetly, shuffling forward to hug Josephina around the neck. The other girl looked shocked for a moment before returning the gesture. Alyssa pulled back and shuffled back next to Magneto, still as sweet as ever, addressing the group and her uncle.  
"It's real nice to meet all of you. Honest! And I'm not a spy, so feel  
free to talk to talk freely around me. I hope that we can all be  
friends." Magneto nodded in quick response before turning to the male of the new pair.  
"This is Tenzo. Simply Tenzo, known for his talent at clay  
sculptures." Sabertooth let out a low laugh that sounded similar to gravel rubbing together. He spun of his heel and stalked off, still laughing. The teens all looked back and forth, bewildered, before Magneto waved a gloved hand and flew off, yelling instructions behind.  
"Remy, John, show your new teammates to their rooms. Their bags are  
near the entrance, Piotr, if you would be so kind as to move them.  
That is all, you may continue your activities now." The teens split apart almost instantly. Josephina and Samantha started discussing Magneto's preferred mode of transportation (floating metal spheres) and their effect on the stomach (they make you a bit queasy). Faith took off and began lazy circles in the air as the other boys moved to their appointed jobs. Piotr was madly muttering in Russian and shaking his head sharply. Alyssa watched with fascination before locking eyes with Remy and bursting out laughing. *************************************************** Wow! I'm done!!! And just in time for Thanksgiving too! Whoa. I honestly can't promise on how long it will be before the next chapter because I have semester exams to study for and take. Severe ouchies.  
  
Special Note to pyroyoko: Why won't you update? *MP3 begins to cry* Please? With sugar on top? Ok, up date or I kill your OC!!!! Not really, but I'll threaten her good and hard! Please update!  
  
Ok, bye for now, cuz it's late and I'm really wiped out.  
  
BYE!!!!!! HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!!!!!!! 


	4. Rebels Enter

Hey people! MP3 here again, sorry if it took me so long to update but I had killer exams. Thanks for the feedback on my last chapter cause I worked my booty off to get it done. Yes, people, it has a plot and pairings for couples but if I told you that now it would ruin everything. To unknown-Don't have too high of hopes! You'll make me nervous!!! To forgottenhavok- Hold onto your horses or else they'll trample me before I can introduce him! Geez. Tenzo- I had to make some crack at that or else I was going to burst. Thanks and I try to update as soon as possible every time. Have fun reading people and remember I love reviews! Many reviews=happy author=sooner updating! Disclaimer has been hiding in my closet and won't come out. He only came out for Turkey Day and that's the only way I came bribe him. *waves turkey leg at Disclaimer's closet* Come out, little boy, come out! Disclaimer:*rushes out and tackles on the meat* MP3 doesn't own Evo or all the nice OCs. She does own her own OCs though! MP3: OK, good Disclaimer. Now read!  
  
""-talking ''-thinking #@#@-scene change to whatever group I'm talking about (I'll use this in this chappie because I might jump around a lot.)  
  
***************************************************************** #@#@ The Xavier Institute #@#@  
  
It was a brand new day at the Xavier Institute, dawning pink and beautiful. Dinner with the newest recruits had gone off well, the Professor successfully introducing them without revealing their powers. Charles Xavier woke this morning at 5:30, second only to Logan who had been up since 4:00, gearing the Danger Room for a surprise training session. Xavier fond the coffee Logan had put outside his room for him and began absently reading the Bayville newspaper that had accompanied it (A/N-This is just something nice I decided to let Logan do. He isn't a servant). He folded the paper as he thought over the events of last night. It was very clear that Cassidy liked Anastacia by the way she had rushed to her as soon as the girl had entered the room. The others had seemed shocked but Anastacia just laughed it off. Keyaira and Ryan both seemed like fish out of water, scared and skittish until Anastacia and Nathaniel stepped in. Anastacia had wrapped her spare arm around the younger girl's shoulders, giving her the same reassuring smile as before in his office. After that, Keyaira seemed to open up and join in the conversations. Nathaniel had playfully punched Ryan's shoulder, the younger boy sliding a small bit before bursting out laughing. By the end of the night, he was already good friends with most of the X-boys. Remembering the reaction when Nathaniel had entered the dining room, he chuckled and crumpled the paper slightly. If he was correct in remembering, Amara had dropped her water glass while Rogue had accidentally elbowed Jamie, causing him to multiply into Roberto. The Brazilian was almost about to start swearing in Portuguese but a growl from Logan silenced him. Kitty had simply gaped in silent shock until the older teen had flashed her a smile. After that, she had blushed furiously and avoided meeting his gaze. Mike hit it off well with Ray and Bobby, as Andrew found a kindred soul as he discussed techno-babble with Kurt. The night was comical and lighthearted after Sam had introduced himself as though he was James Bond. Anastacia laughed and proceeded to call him 'Guthrie' the whole night, earning a shy smile whenever she did. Overall, the night had been a success and he was very proud of all of them. A heavy bell rang overhead, denoting the arrival of 6:00. Around the Institute, he could hear the reactions of his students as they rolled out of bed and quickly dressed for the session in their uniforms. He made his way to the control center for the Danger Room, reviewing all the things that could happen in the next day. The doors slid open, revealing Hank, Ororo,and Andrew. Andrew waved nervously before turning to stare out the observing window. He was dressed casually in jeans short, sandals, and plain yellow T-shirt. Ororo and Hank, however, were wearing their uniform, fiddling with controls. Charles smiled at the two before looking out the glass panel himself. He smiled at the sight of his X-Men in their uniforms and all of the New Recruits in their nearly versions. The newest additions had their own uniforms, each revealing a small chunk of their personality. Keyaira looked more confident in her two-piece black catsuit, tapping the toe of her black knee-high boot, conversing with Kitty and Sam in her light southern accent. Mike and Ryan were talking about rock music, Mike rolling up his tie-dyed red and black sleeves. The rest of his uniform was basic black, from the torso of his shirt to his pants and belt, except for a red belt and a red X across his chest. Ryan looked a bit more traditional, having adopted the yellow X shoulder pads and yellow belt to his own black and green ensemble. His tail whipped about near his bulky green boots which gave way to basic black torso and a green diagonal stripe across his chest. He cracked his knuckles, flexing his claws through the fingerless green gloves. Nathaniel stood off to the side of everyone, the golden plates on his high tech body suit glinting in the flourescent lights. A long black leather trench coat cutting the glare mostly, brushing the toes of his black boots. The ornate hilt of a sword jutted out from behinds one shoulder, strapped to his back and across his chest. He absently twirled two .50 caliber desert Eagles in his black gloved hands before forcing them back into the halters at his waist. Anastacia watched him before laughing lightly, forcing him to look up into her hazel eyes. Anastacia flexed her hands, stretching the thin black material. Every muscle and curve she possessed was hugged by the black body suit. A broad white X crossed her chest, wrapping around her waist and the tops of her shoulders. Her arms were also wrapped in gold Xs, the top portion of the X replaced by red instead of black. Anastacia twirled a stray hair from her long braid, smiling at Nathaniel and tapping the toe of her boots. Logan entered the room, all eyes suddenly turned on him. Clearing his throat, he looked at them all expectantly.  
  
"This'll be a simple session, divided into three parts. The first will  
be for the new students. You've already met all of them but this will  
be a chance to see what they can do in battle. This is your  
evaluation, new kids, don't be scared. The next session will be for  
the New Recruits. That means Iceman, Cannonball, Berzerker, Sunspot,  
Magma, and Multiple. Basic training but up a level from what you're  
used to. Third will be for the X-Men at the highest level."  
  
He paused for a second and Xavier's voice came over the intercom.  
  
"If the other students will come to the observation deck while the  
newest students train? Thank you all."  
  
The students made their way out and up, the ones left behind looking slightly more nervous than before. The students filed neatly into the control room and Xavier nodded to Ororo. She nudged the skill lever, pushing several buttons before sitting back to watch with the rest of them. Machines burst out of the walls in the room below, one spouting flames, another sporting swinging blades. The recruits tensed, all ready for the attack.  
  
#@#@ Somewhere in Bayville.#@#@  
  
A man stumbled down an alley, knocking over two cans, spilling fresh trash before the dawn rounds. He ran blindly, glancing back breathlessly at the tall thin figure advancing on him. The man ran into a chain link fence separating the alley, turning to pant out a plea to the black and red clad figure.  
  
"Please don't hurt me. I swear, I'll give you anything. Just don't  
hurt me."  
  
The figure stepped out of the shadows to reveal a thin teenage girl. Her black chin-length hair with red streaks twitched in the slight breeze. Her left eye was pearly white, displaying no emotion, but the right was dark brown and piercingly angry. She stomped out further into the pale sunlight, her chunky black boots sending up puffs of dirt over her torn blue jeans. Over the jeans, she wore a red and black plaid skirt that went well with the plain black long-sleeved shirt with fishnet sleeves. Black arm socks reached to her elbows and several silver bracelets jangled at her wrists. Small silver hoops glinted at her ears and three silver chains at her neck swayed slightly. Her voice was almost disdainful and minorly wounded.  
  
"Why would I hurt you? I just wanted to help you. You dropped this  
back there."  
  
She held out a small brown wallet and the man loosened much more. He snatched it back, trying to regain his pride and almost sneering at her.  
  
"How much did you take out? You stupid mutant. You can't fool me! I  
see right through you. Then again, that's not something you can do to  
well anyway, right?"  
  
The girl looked down, shock written on her face. She balled her fists and looked the man in the eye again. He flinched as she hissed icily.  
  
"Then you better run before I use my scary mutant powers on you. Go  
on, run. Like the little rat you are."  
  
The man took off past her, scurrying down the alley much like a rodent would. She looked down at the black asphalt, scuffing the toe of her left boot.  
  
"My name is Kara Brook," she whispered to the alley, "they call me  
Voodoo for a reason. I just wish I could cut the strings."  
  
Kara turned and exited the alley, stepping out into brighter sunlight. She continued her plod down the sidewalk as though nothing had happened.  
  
#@#@ The Brotherhood Boarding House #@#@  
  
A pair of robins chirped happily outside until they were hit by a blast of water from Jason's outstretched palm. He rolled out of bed, the huge white T-shirt and baggy navy pants he used as pajamas very rumpled. Trudging down the stairs, he was most shocked to see Seyla, Denise, and Anne, all clad in their pajamas piled onto the couch and watching a TV movie. Jason cocked his head in confusion, unknowingly staring at Seyla in her less than modest cut-off white tank top and navy basketball shorts.  
  
"Aren't you girls up a bit early? You do know that when Blob wakes up,  
he'll take over the couch."  
  
Seyla smirked, crossing her arms and tilting her head in response.  
  
"We can deal with him. Right, Freddy?"  
  
As if on cue, Fred backed through the swinging door from the kitchen with a tray of cereal bowls. He passed three to the girls on the couch before settling into an armchair himself. Anne smiled sweetly at him, her voice light but sugary.  
  
"Thanks Fred! You're so sweet."  
  
Jason could only help but scoff as Fred nodded modestly. He took a seat on the moldy carpet beneath one of the arms of the couch. The four sat in near silence, transfixed to the cheesy movie, the only sounds the crunch of Cheerios from the cereal bowl and the movie itself. Half an hour later, Wanda shuffled down the stairs, fully dressed and throwing hexes behind her at Todd. She glowered at the group currently occupying the main room, still half asleep. In an almost chivalrous act, Fred stood from the armchair and found another seat so that Wanda could have it. Wanda's face flashed in confusion before returning to the same sour glare as she crossed the room and fell into the chair. Stretching her legs over the arm, She drew a book out from under the chair, flipped to a page in the middle and became engrossed in it. Todd finish hopping down the stairs, rubbing his head and mussing his mouse brown hair.  
  
"Goodness, Cuddlebumps, you sure do know how to wake a guy up in the  
morning."  
  
Wanda snorted, slipping a page in her book and not looking up.  
  
"That's what you're supposed to do with a ball of slime, Todd. Throw  
it out."  
  
Todd smiled dreamily, ready to respond sweetly when a cutting voice broke in.  
  
"Then you need to work on your aim. Because I could swear you just  
threw him further back into the house."  
  
Todd was shocked out of his small dream state, snapping up his head at the open window of the living room behind the couch. The girls on the couch turned around, highly curious, and were shocked to see a lean 17 year old a wicked smile on his slightly tanned face. His blue eyes glinted mischievously as Wanda turned to look him in the eyes, she herself shocked that someone had questioned her. She gained an ounce of her composure and asked him incredulously,  
  
"I'd like to see you do better. Who are you anyway?"  
  
The teen's smile spread wider as he swung his legs over the windowsill and his black boots thumped against the carpet.  
  
"It's like some group therapy session in here. Say it with me now. My  
name's Havok."  
  
The girls on the couch smiled broadly and responded in unison.  
  
"Hi, Havok."  
  
Havok smiled, letting out a small laugh before continuing.  
  
"I'm a mutant."  
  
The three girls reponded in the same unison.  
  
"That's OK, Havok."  
  
Denise giggled lightly as Wanda shook her head, trying not to do the same.  
  
"That's your name? Havok? Don't you have a real name?"  
  
The teen shook his head, still smiling, making it aware to Wanda his almost military buzz cut.  
  
"Well, I'm working on a nickname. Possibly Mike, or even Justin. I'm  
kinda leaning towards Mike. Wait! Maybe Kevin."  
  
He glanced up at the ceiling as he recited, seizing upon each name like a treasure. Seyla was laughing lightly and even Fred was smiling as the boy continued.  
  
"How about Doug? Hmm. Nah, something else. Larry. no. Harold. Hunter. Dustin!!! Yep, I'm going with Dustin today!"  
  
The others burst out laughing and even Wanda was smiling. Havok caught her smile and gave her his own secretive smile, his eyes smoldering. Wanda shuddered and returned to her book as Havok resumed his place on the windowsill, watching the movie as if he had always been there.  
  
#@#@ The Xavier Institute (30 minutes later) #@#@  
  
An alarm went off in the control room, jarring the observers out of their slack-jawed silence. Kurt was the first to react, letting out a low whistle. Amara had her head cocked to side in utter confusion as she stared at Andrew. He was fiddling with the dials and buttons still, unaware of the attention. Down in the Danger Room, the newest recruits were feeling the effect of their first session as a team. The disappointment was clear on Ryan's face as he offered Keyaira a hand to help her to her feet. She took it with a sour grunt and once she was stable, she shook it off quickly. She rubbed at the small of her back, moving away from Ryan, hissing like a cat over her left shoulder. Her voice was vicious and painfully sarcastic.  
  
"Real nice, Lynx. Aren't you supposed to see a huge metal pole when  
you're looking right behind me???"  
  
Ryan seemed shocked but recovered quickly, in the same sarcastic tone.  
  
"This from the girl with cat-like reflexes. Couldn't you hear it  
swinging, Key? Everybody else did."  
  
Keyaira glared murder at him, looking as if she would rip off his tail if given the choice. Mike's voice cut through her death stare, floating over from where he had blended himself into one of the movable walls.  
  
"Come on, people. We all make mistakes. Well, not me, because I'm  
perfect. But you all knew that."  
  
Keyaira looked in his direction, her anger fading quickly as she began laughing lightly. Even Ryan had to giggle, sending an apologetic look at the girl, although she did not notice it. Anastacia smiled at Mike and took his bare right hand in her gloved one, her left outstretched and splayed against the wall. She concentrated, her eyes growing more intense as the wall buckled slightly. Mike would have fallen farther forward if not for the elder girl's grip as she dragged him out of the puckered hole. Mike gained stability, glancing hurriedly from Anastacia to the hole.  
  
"Whoa. You've definitely got some power behind you. Thanks for the  
quick save. Hopefully, it won't be needed again."  
  
She returned warmly with a smile. Nathaniel bent and quickly scooped up his Desert Eagles from where a simulation had thrown them. The bottom near where the cartridges loaded was chipped on one, making the large teen swear under his breath. He glanced up at the tall blonde, remembering vividly when a nudge from a swinging blade had sent a stray bullet hurtling towards the girl's shoulder. Only by coincidence had she moved out of they way in time, dodging one of the same blades. She locked eyes with him, smiling warmly again, her small accent attempting to be reassuring.  
  
"Don't worry about it, Calina. I've dodged worse accidents before and you did really good anyway."  
  
Nathaniel smiled at the use of his middle name, recalling her's quickly and responding in the same tone.  
  
"Nothing doing Selena. You weren't so bad yourself, You sure you've  
never done this before?"  
  
She shook her head, the smile growing wider. Ryan rubbed one his ears, looking thoughtful.  
  
"So what are we going to call ourselves? As a group, I mean. We are  
going to be fighting as a group and we should have a proper name."  
  
Mike cocked his head to one side, before snapping his fingers.  
  
"I got it! The Fabulous Five!"  
  
Keyaira snorted.  
  
"We're not a group of gay men, we're X-Men! Besides, there are six of  
us. You're forgetting Andrew."  
  
Mike looked humble until Ryan snapped his fingers in a similar.  
  
"I've got it. We'll be the Court. Because we have a king and a queen."  
  
Ryan gestured to Nathaniel and Anastacia before continuing.  
  
". a prince and a princess."  
  
He gestured to himself and Keyaira, a smile spreading across his face.  
  
".an Ace."  
  
Gesturing up at the control room, the smile grew wider and Andrew responded by sending off a small siren for a second before ceasing it.  
  
".and a fool."  
  
He pointed at Mike as the slightly shorter boy let out a huff of indignation. Keyaira began giggling helplessly as Logan appeared and motioned for the five to leave. As they walked out, Logan could hear Mike feebly trying to reason for his newest nickname.  
  
"But why me? Why do I have to be the fool? Can I trade? Come on,  
somebody let me trade!"  
  
Logan cold only help but chuckle.  
  
#@#@ A Random Café in Bayville #@#@  
  
The café was nearly empty except for a middle-aged waitress, a pot-bellied manager, and tanned teenage boy trying to ignore the former two. The waitress hesitantly walked over and placed a cup of black coffee in front of the boy before she skittered away nervously. The boy looked up in the direction the woman had exited from, his eyes flashing slightly. The waitress caught this sight and let out a tiny shriek. Through his right eyes ran an old scar, the eye itself light blue contrasting with his red left eye. He grimaced, taking a sip of his coffee as the portly manager waddled over. He stuttered as he spoke, trying to sound nonchalant.  
  
"Hey, buddy. I'm sorry but I'll need you to pay and vacate my  
establishment."  
  
The teen let out a wry chuckle and glanced up at the man.  
  
"Let me guess. 'We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone'.  
Yeah, I'll leave."  
  
The manager wrung his hands as the teen slurped half the cup before placing some money on the table and sliding out of the booth. The manager looked him up and down as he walked out, amazed at the baggy black clothes which gave away none of his form. He shook his head, muttering under his breath about the sad state the world was in. It wasn't that he was against mutants, his customers were though and he couldn't afford less customers. Yes, it was a sad state the world was in.  
  
***************************************************************** Done! This was an extra long chappie to introduce the last three OCs and just to get the story and plot rolling a bit. I wanted to do something Christmas related but it just didn't fit well. I might not update for a while because of Christmas and my birthday (December 21!). Note that after this, I probably won't be updating every week but I'll do my best and my quickest to update. Please review, I really want reviews. LOL,MP3, Have a happy holiday season everybody!  
  
PS: I might do something a bit Christmas-y but that's a surprise! Please review, people! 


	5. Over Christmas

MP3 here. I'm back and swinging with a new chappie that you all have been begging me for. I got a bit of much needed inspiration after seeing Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. THAT WAS THE BEST FRICKIN' MOVIE EVER AND I WILL SAY SO TO EVERYONE I COME ACROSS. *gets self back under control* OK, that was weird but correct. It was a really good movie. Any way, back to the present and the story at hand. Here it is as a late holiday present that I worked so hard on making perfect. Remember that I don't own anything except my own OC and a few pieces of pocket lint in my wallet. This next part will occur about a week and a half after where we last left our heroes, our not-quite heroes, and the heroes-at-heart. I will review what happened over that time as The Narrator who just knows everything that happened. (Because it's easier that way! Just deal with it.)  
  
Don't forget that this "" means talking, '' means thinking, and #@#@ #@#@ means scene change. I've added a new symbol to mean flashback and it is ^^ ^^. Enjoy the new symbol, people.  
  
*****************************************************************  
  
^^ The Narrator tells all ^^  
  
Winter came upon Bayville quite suddenly, as a heavenly body dumped snow upon the city and its inhabitants, mutant and human alike. At the Xavier Institute, several students left for visiting with their families, yet all of The Court remained behind. Andrew took only two days to master all of the controls in the Danger Room and all of the hardware in the rec room. He took great pride in being the only person able to set the clock on the VCR, especially when Logan had congratulated him on it. For Christmas, the New Recruits presented the boy known as Pixel with the pieces of a hoverboard Forge had discarded for him to fiddle with. He looked as if he had won a million dollars and proceeded to lock himself in his room for most of the day, trying to piece it back into working order. As for his fellow members, their holidays were just as enjoyable. Keyaira and Ryan had settled their previous spat to join forces against Kurt and Bobby in a snowball fight, emerging victorious but covered in damp powder. For Christmas, Keyaira received an odd package, delivered with no return address, yet filled with CDs by her favorite pop artists and several new guitar picks. Upon this revelation of Keyaira's musical ability, she took requests and sang several Christmas carols. Keyaira acted the fool over Christmas, presenting Ryan with an assortment of colored beanies as an attempt to be humorous. Tabby had visited for the holidays, she and Keyaira bonding quickly, sharing secretive giggles and wide smiles when they glanced over at Ryan. He turned several shades of bright red, returning Tabby's bold smiles with his slightly embarrassed ones. By now, everyone had taken to calling the boy Archer after he had instructed Nathaniel and Anastacia to do so. Speaking of the king and queen of The Court, ever since the first session in the Danger Room, they continued an unspoken friendly competition. They still referred to each other by middle names, the friendship growing but becoming the tiniest bit flirtatious. When Christmas dawned, Nathaniel was shocked to see a small box under the tree labeled with his name. Upon opening it, he found a brass coin the size of a silver dollar engraved on one side with a pair of scaly wings and on the other with the scaly profile of what could only be a dragon. Anastacia had beamed at the pleasant silent shock on his face but her own smile grew greater when she noticed a small box labeled with her own name in blocky writing. His reward had been a tight hug about his neck as she whispered, "Thanks Superman, it's wonderful," in his ear. The present had been a quarter-sized copper rose which hung on a thin copper chain about her neck. Mike been biting his tongue, trying to hold back his chuckles at the elder pairs attempts to curve their romantic interest in each other the entire time. At Christmas, the entire Court pitched in to buy several gifts. Keyaira and Ryan found a jester's hat and scepter, while Andrew fixed up a blender and turned it into a super-powered smoothie machine. Anastacia and Nathaniel found the time to cover the younger boy in lime green silly string. Ironically, for revenge, Mike dumped a bowl of pistachio pudding over Nathaniel's head declaring, "Long live the King!" Needless to say, Nathaniel fought back and the small feud echoed about the mansion for several days until Anastacia kidnapped every piece of both boys clothing and held it hostage until the two agreed to stop. How she found all of these clothes, nobody knows, but most of the girls took great pride in hanging the pairs underwear around the Institute. Kitty was very shocked to see the last lost pair of Nathaniel's blue plaid boxers draped over her plate of cookies. Thankfully, the plate was well coated with saran wrap, but Kitty would not stop blushing for most of the day, nor would she even touch them. Once the rest of the teenagers had found out however, she couldn't even meet the older boys eyes. Ah yes, the holidays had been kind to the house that Xavier built, but it was not as generous to the Brotherhood Boarding House. Not saying that the holidays were cruel but not as kind in the same way. For festive decoration, Seyla found some holly and pinecones and in some way fashioned a wreath for the front door. Fred did his share and bought about two gallons of eggnog and three dozen Christmas sugar cookies. Todd did the best thing he knew, the thing that would benefit most of the residents of the house and himself if luck was with him. He bought a sprig of misletoe. Most of the holidays, he could be found standing under that mistletoe, praying for Wanda to walk under it with him. Unfortunately, Wanda found alternate routes, including the back door and the large window in the living room. This window was now dubbed 'Havok's place' as that was where he could be ound most times. Anne openly professed her love of Rankin-Bass specials, especially the ones abut Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. Denise instigated her own snowball fight, this one ending not so great as Jason shot a spout of water at Fred, forgetting the cold temperatures and accidentally freezing the larger boy's left arm and a good section of his torso. Seyla was forced to change into her fox form to heat up Fred. Her house-mates were very startled but still accepting of this other face. Daniel was very acceptive, considering that his mouth gaped so wide it nearly reached the floor. Darcy was right there to gently close it, chiding him softly, "You're going to let flies in, silly." Yes it was a wonderfully tense time, what with the discoveries of powers and Wanda dodging Todd and his festive fungi. Luck ran out one day, as Wanda climbed through the living room window, passing Havok in his usual place on the window sill. About to hop off the sill, she was stopped by a black gloved hand on her shoulder. Wanda turned to see the boys wicked smiling face as he held aloft that wicked little plant. Before she could rush off, he stole a quick kiss and booted her to her feet with a small pat on her behind. Regaining her anger, she slapped him and sent a hex bolt his way. Reacting comically, he fell out of the window and eliciting giggles from Denise and Anne. All and all, it was a fair holiday for those Brotherhoodians. The Acolytes however, were celebrating in secret. Magneto was officially banning Christmas, not even giving his adopted daughter or his niece a present. John and Samantha snuck out of the base to watch the Christmas parade at Disney World on the tiny screen of a portable TV. Faith flew to the top of one of the regions tall pine trees, spending Christmas Eve silently singing to herself and nursing the growing loneliness that her wings wrought upon her. Remy, Piotr, Alyssa, and Tenzo spent the holidays playing poker, rummy, speed, and spoons. It was an odd cycle of money trading hands with Remy cleaning out his teammates in poker, Tenzo and Alyssa simply destroying in spoons, and Piotr sweeping them all away with his skills at rummy. Everything balanced out though, seeing as none of them had much skill at speed. Sabertooth clunked around, looking more sour then usual, glaring and growling at anyone who even looked at him. Remy tried to hang apiece of mistletoe but catching a look from Sabertooth, he decided against it. Yes, the holidays could have been better for the Acolytes but they weren't half bad. The holidays for all our characters wee dull, leaving them with an itch for conflict and battle. The Brotherhood was very tempted to stretch their new muscles and Magneto was containing his over- eager Acolytes as best he could. Even the Court was suffering from cabin- fever, training harder and trying every which way to improve. Tensions were resting on the thin January ice, waiting for somebody to break it or each other.  
  
*****************************************************************  
  
Hope you enjoyed this. I promise that the next chapter will be some action, interaction, and active romance. Please review, you know I love reviews. BTW, I have some plans for later on in the story and it is my obligation and common courtesy to ask before I do. IF ANY OF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS WITH YOUR OC BEING BADLY HURT OR INJURED, PLEASE CONTACT ME. None of them are going to die, I just need to know which of you mind if your OC is hurt. Please respond promptly( in the reviews I'm hoping to receive is OK for this time). Thank you and enjoy your chappie!!!!! 


	6. Prelude to a Smackdown And the Unlove of...

Hey peoples! Glad you enjoyed the last chappie. Sorry about it being kind of a mess, but what can you do? The formats don't like me. Honestly, I wish I could get the chapters out to you guys quicker but it just doesn't happen as fast as I want it to. Especially with winter break ending and me having to become more serious with my grades. I'm going to turn into a cheesy poster for "good grades = good college" if I don't write my fanfics. Which reminds me to tell you all of my extreme work load. I'm juggling three fictions right now including this one and it's hard work on top of daily life. Sorry if I'm ranting but I was just in that kind of mood today. Praise to all of my reviewers, I love all of you too much to describe. It is a light in my day to see that somebody has reviewed, and that light grows when it is one of my regulars. Lots of love, enjoy your chapter. Oh, quick recommendation. You have to see The Last Samurai because it's one of my favorite movies now.  
  
Don't own anything..  
  
""-Talking  
  
''-Thinking  
  
#@#@ #@#@-Scene change  
  
^^ ^^-Flashback/Narrator speaking  
  
*****************************************************************  
  
^^ Narrator returns after such great reviews about her first appearance ^^  
  
Teenagers are not patient animals, and for that matter, neither is Sabertooth. Another uneventful two days for all the teams, even our rebels had fallen into a lazy funk that was just not fitting for young mutants. Conflict is as close as the snow on your nose..  
  
#@#@ A wooded area in Bayville #@#@  
  
Keyaira crunched through the snow in her new pair of boots that had arrived in the same type of blank package as her guitar picks and CDs from Christmas. They were simple and black, reaching up to her knee. They were not, in fact, not very different from the ones she wore everyday except that the soles were thicker and designed to have more traction. On top of the boots, in the package had been a long black winter coat, with fine fluffy gray lining and large black buttons. With her new boots and coat, added to her regular pair of jeans and a long-sleeved black shirt, she had turned a few heads as she had left the mansion for a walk. Brushing past a branch of pine leaves, she accidentally caught a glimpse of a couple kissing in an alcove of trees. Tapping into her power, she slid into invisibility and trekked on, unnoticed. For a good while, she walked, simply enjoying the insane antics of certain animals (A/N-crazy squirrels) and the way the snow fell. Barely noticing where she was walking, Keyaira knocked headlong into something rather wide and tall. Stumbling backwards, she glanced up and saw no one. She was very shocked to hear a voice echo from where nothing was standing.  
  
"Bloody hell! What was that? There's nothing there, but I definitely  
felt a bump. Unless my eyes deceive me."  
  
Keyaira spoke before she thought, never her best quality.  
  
"Then, honey, we're both deceived. Because I don't see anything where  
your supposed to be."  
  
The voice responded, Keyaira finally realizing the accent. This dude was British!  
  
"You're a mutant!"  
"So are you! And your friends call you Captain Obvious!"  
"More like Ghost, darling-"  
  
Viciously, she cut him off, her southern drawl snapping as she spoke.  
  
"I ain't your darling, so don't call me that. You know though, it  
easier to talk to somebody when you can see them. So if, you'll show  
yourself, so will I."  
  
She let her powers slide away, waiting until half a second later, a teenage boy appeared in front of her. He was also dressed in long black pants and black boots, a blue fleece jacket tossed on carelessly over a button down white shirt. They looked each other up and down, the boy trying to hide his smug grin until by some squirrelly activity, nearly a pound of snow fell into his spiky brown hair. Keyaira couldn't help but giggle as the smugness faded and he rubbed it out, chuckling embarassedly. Something in his eyes made her stick out her hand.  
  
"Keyaira Creed. Nice to meet you. Do you have another name or do I  
just call you Ghostie?"  
  
His hand slightly damp, he reached out and gripped her hand tightly.  
  
"My name is Daniel. My teammates are the ones who call me Ghost.  
They're real characters."  
  
Keyaira laughed, thinking of Mike and Ryan bickering over dinner until Andrew had thrown a few bread rolls at them. She nodded amiably, questioning him.  
  
"Teammates are like that. You're a mutant ,right? Of course you are,  
I'm just stating the obvious! But anyways, I think the way they act is  
based on their abilities."  
  
Daniel nodded deeply, pausing to remember when Darcy had made a mop and broom dance into life to clean the Brotherhood kitchen. Now, everything in that house that could be immaculate, was.  
  
"Definitely. All mutants are different and they all are unique. Some  
are cool and some aren't. Like those X-Geeks. God, how dorky are  
they?"  
  
Keyaira straightened, watching as he unknowingly continued insulting her teammates and the people she had come to care about. Her face tightened into silent rage as he looked up and questioned with a chuckle,  
  
"I mean, can you believe those people?"  
  
Before either could realize it, Keyaira punched him as hard as she could in the cheek. Daniel clearly wasn't expecting it and fell back into the snow, a new bruise blooming on his cheek, surrounding the small cut from her plain silver ring. Keyaira's eyes narrowed as she stared down at the shocked British boy.  
  
"Next time, when you start insulting someone, you might want to check  
who you're talking to first. I'm an X-Geek, but we prefer The Court.  
And you've been judged. Stay away from me and my friends, you stupid  
limey."  
  
Turning away, she started to walk, but felt a sharp tug on her right ankle and fell, slicing open her bottom lip. Pushing herself up onto her forearms, she coughed into the snow, noticing the blood staining the snow. Daniel's voice rang off from a small distance as he returned her barb.  
  
"Hard to stay away when you deserve a beating, Creed. And the Court  
won't be able to protect you when I have my team behind me. So just  
go."  
  
Standing now, she flipped him her middle finger and thought, 'Isn't this sad? We could have been friends. We could have just been friends but who we hang out with matters now. And not just in a clique-way but in a way that matters how we live and survive. It's a scary thing, this world we live in.' Hearing him sneer, she crunched through the snow back towards the Mansion and hopefully some antiseptic. Boy, did that cut smart! Daniel watched the girl turn and leave, and did the same in the opposite direction. Back to the Brotherhood house and to the girls who were hungry for conflict with the people they had learned to despise. 'Those girls are like wolves,' he thought, 'Gorgeous, mutant wolves. Well, If it's conflict they want, It's conflict they'll get!' His thoughts wandered to Seyla in her fox form, Kitsune, the others had called her. 'This'll be a blast.'  
  
*****************************************************************  
  
The most definite next chapter is the battle between Brotherhood and The Court! Who will win? Who will be injured horribly? Am I just stalling until I have to write the next chapter? Say it with me now...YES!!!! Anyway, hope you enjoyed this one except for the fact that its a cliffie until the actual battle. Oh well, I promise that right after I post this one, I'll start writing the battle. I swear on my beloved penname!!!! Anyway, let me just do a little self promotion. Read my one-shot romance/angst under the title 'Paintings of you on my walls' because I loosely based it on my OC and Takara ruined that for everybody. Grrrrr. (J/K- I'm not really mad at you, just being silly! Good for you for guesing!!!) Anyway, please read it, I hope you like it. Please tell me if I'm a hopeless romantic. LOL, bye for now, MP3 


	7. Sad Author's noteDON'T REPORT ME PLEASE!...

Hey people! I have bad news. This is not the chapter I promised but I am working on it. The problem is that I got some bad grades on my last report card and I've been pretty much banned from the internet. I'm actually writing this note from my school computer after I finished my assignments. Anyway, I needed to tell all of you who are expecting a new chapter will have to wait a long time. I hate that I'm cut off, but I have no idea when I'll be able to update again and I wanted to warn you. MP3 is going into serious hibernation as I focus on my grades. When I do come back, it will be swinging with several chapters for all of you who are waiting, I think. Until then, enjoy what you have and please wait for me. Love to you all!!!  
  
Postscript: I know that ff.net frowns upon chapters that are author's notes, but I needed to say this. If you are reading this and thinking of reporting me to admin, PLEASE DON'T! I've already bee n through that once and I know better but I have to say something so that people don't think I've died or forgotten about them. PLEASE DO NOT REPORT ME BECAUSE THIS IS A ONE TIME THING!!! I really don't want to get kicked off this site or this story deleted. 


	8. The Long awaited Battle MP3 is back and ...

Hey all! Hope everybody had a fun time between updates. I'll stop stalling and just get to writing. Enjoy your wicked vicious battle between the Brotherhood and the Court!  
  
PS: Reviewers!!!!!!! I loved you before and now I adore you all!! Seriously, everyone was so sweet in all of their reviews. Much love to you all  
  


* * *

  
Note that on translated lines, what they mean in English is in parentheses and quotes below it.  
  
""-Talking ("")-Translated Lines ''-Thinking #@#@ #@#@- Scene Change ^^ ^^-Narrator Speaking  
  


* * *

  
^^ Narrator waves to everybody ^^  
  
The winds have been stirred and now the hurricane is waiting offshore. Single opposite poles have clashed but what will happen when they rally their groups together? Do the Brotherhood actually have a chance? What will a simple battle create?  
  
#@#@ The Mansion   
  


* * *

  
Keyaira walked through the main door to see Andrew and Kurt arguing about techno-babble and Ryan sitting on the bottom stair, reading. As she thumped the snow off her boots, the boys all looked up and rushed over. Ryan carefully tilted her chin up with three clawed fingers, shock spreading on his face.  
  
"What happened??? I thought you were just going for a walk, not  
finding a fight! You could have taken me with you for a brawl."  
  
She favored him with a sarcastic smile, then winced as the cut on her bottom lip split a bit farther.  
  
"I wasn't looking for a fight, it found me. Well, some jerk from the  
Brotherhood found me and started insulting my people. Can't have that  
now can we?"  
  
Kurt looked grim as he glanced down and did some calculations in his head.  
  
"His timing is perfect though. For them, not us. The Professor took  
the New Recruits and the other X-Men off for a training mission. The  
only reason I'm still here is the massive Biology test I have to study  
for and it's tomorrow. You'll have to do this on your own if they come  
to fight."  
  
"Who's fighting who?"  
  
The group looked up to see Nathaniel and Anastacia, decked out in full uniform, coming down the stairs. Kurt gestured to Keyaira, explaining,  
  
"She met a guy from the Brotherhood and they got kinda rough. If he  
gets back and rallies all of them, you'll have to fight."  
  
Nathaniel nodded, looking at all of them in turn.  
  
" Well, then we'll be ready for them. Lynx, Blender, Key, I suggest  
you change into your battle clothes. Don't want to be caught  
unprepared. Pixel, got to the control room and monitor everything.  
Give us a warning when you see or hear something. Kurt, we'd be  
honored if you'd fight with us."  
  
Kurt gave a nod and everyone moved off to their appointed tasks, with Nathaniel following Andrew and Anastacia doing the same for Keyaira, intent on fixing her lip.  
  
#@#@ The Brotherhood Boarding House   
  


* * *

  
Daniel smacked open the front door, not trying to conceal his anger. Stalking into the main hall, he glanced toward the living room to see a shocked Denise dangling a Twinkie over Fred as if he were a dog. Seyla, Anne, and Wanda were laughing on the couch when they all turned to see him scowling at no one in particular. Havok piped in from his place at the window, as everybody was accustomed to.  
  
"What's up? I haven't seen a scowl like since Seyla burned the last  
s'more and Fred got all mopey."  
  
Seyla and Fred nodded vigorously, Denise still dangling the Twinkie over Fred's head doing the same. Daniel walked over to lean against the door frame, resting his head against the crumbling molding. Darcy winced, as she did constantly when somebody touched a piece of the house that she had yet to clean. Laughing inside, he began to explain.  
  
"Well, you see Dustin, I-"  
  
Havok held up his hands quickly.  
  
"Whoa there buddy! It's Blake today. Good to keep names circulating,  
that's what I always say."  
  
Daniel shook his head.  
  
"OK, whatever. Point is, I got in a fight with an X-Geek and now, we  
have to teach them a lesson. Isn't that what we've been waiting for?"  
  
Denise dropped the Twinkie in utter shock, but when she regained her senses, she yelled for her cousin and the other members of the team. A white blur that was Pietro zipped through the swinging kitchen door and plunked down onto the couch next to Anne. Todd hopped through the open window Havok was sitting at and onto the back of the couch where Anne, Darcy, and Pietro were sitting. Lance and Jason came through the kitchen door, looking for the source of the yell. Wanda walked leisurely down the stair to lean against the frame opposite Daniel. Jason spoke first.  
  
"Any reason we're all here and not enjoying the wonderful snow  
outside?"  
  
Havok snorted loudly.  
  
"You wouldn't say that if you were half out the window all day.  
Besides, I hear that you have a battle to go off and fight."  
  
Seyla looked over at him, questioning.  
  
"You won't be with us? Don't you want a bit of fun?"  
  
Nodding, Havok turned a bit more somber.  
  
"Don't get me wrong. I love a good rough and tumble as much as the  
next guy, but this is a fight for the Brotherhood and whoever did  
that. I like my independence far too much to take on that label. Until  
you return victorious, I take my leave."  
  
With that he spun out of the open window and walked off. Wanda watched him leave, almost wishing he could have stayed, even if not for the battle. Havok leaving was the unsaid signal for the group to disperse, each moving off to their room to change. Daniel was still leaning against the frame as Seyla stopped, tilting his cheek to examine it. Her voice was lightly teasing.  
  
"So, exactly how big was the ring she was wearing?"  
  
Looking away, he asked in the same clipped way he always talked, despite how happy he was internally.  
  
"I was trying to retain my pride. I guess that failed. Is it that  
obvious?"  
  
"Only to somebody who knows what to look for. You better point her out  
to me so I can properly whoop her behind. I don't like it when other  
girls make passes at my guy."  
  
Shocked, Daniel turned to see her smiling in that teasing toothy way.  
  
"You're teasing me. You know it's not nice to tease a hurt person."  
  
The smile didn't fade as the brunette leaned forward and kissed a very shocked Daniel on his slightly parted lips. He was keenly aware of very few things, those things not extending past the sweet peachy smell of her hair. Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, Seyla pulled back and skipped up the stairs. Daniel stood shocked for a minute before he did the same, actually skipping up the stairs.  
  
#@#@ The Institute   
  


* * *

  
Now fully dressed, everybody was lounging in the front room, basically bored out of their minds. Nathaniel started flipping his guns over his fingers, simply trying to fill the void. Ryan was trying to meditate, but suddenly, his ears twitched, flicking back. Keyaira stood up, muttering,  
  
"I hear it too...... What is that?"  
  
Everybody present cocked their heads, looking rather like an odd kitten painting. Ryan responded, incredulously, the noise growing louder and closer.  
  
"It sounds like a motorcycle. Let's check it out."  
  
Grateful for something to do, they all jumped to their feet and moved out through the front door. Below the mansion steps sat two motorcycles and a rider clad in black leather. The rider's face was covered with a helmet, but it was clearly a woman, and the woman hopped onto one bike and rode away. Nathaniel and Anastacia ran down the steps, the rider moving out of the Institute gates. Anastacia looked down at the bike and a huge smile spread across her face.  
  
"It's fixed. My baby. It's fixed."  
  
A note was tacked to the seat, that Nathaniel removed quickly and read aloud.  
  
"Thought it would be a good idea for you to have this. I know you love  
it so, and I wouldn't want you to feel lonely. Think of it as a late  
birthday present. Love, Mamma."  
  
Anastacia caressed the chrome handle bars, the smile never fading and quite possibly growing larger. The bike was an indescript yet clearly American model, a pearly red body and chrome handle bars and lines. She was laughing softly now, a black gloved hand dragged across a pearlescent logo. Andrew took a few steps forward, tilting his head to one side as he tried to figure out what the logo was. Anastacia glanced up to see his inquisitive look and giggled like a small child.  
  
"It's a dove, my personal symbol. My—-good friend gave me a necklace  
when I was 14 that he said reminded me of him. He said I reminded him  
of peace and serenity. I've been using that dove ever since."  
  
Mike noticed as she faltered, her voice dropping when she mentioned the person who had given her the symbol. Nathaniel straightened up, his eyes boring into her for a more specific answer. She met his stare and gave another dazzling smile, but her eyes held a tiny secret that she wasn't ready to divulge. Reaching under the skin tight collar of her suit, she pulled out a thin silver chain upon which dangled a small silver dove. Around the dove's neck was a thin strand of gold and in it's mouth was a thin golden branch of olive leaves, also made out of gold. The creature itself dangled carefully, blowing in the soft wind, but when it settled, the dove was beautifully curved into a perpetual state of grace. Keyaira moved instinctively forward, fingering the pendant, clearly shocked.  
  
"It's so heavy! How can you wear such a heavy thing all the time??"  
  
Shrugging, Anastacia replaced the necklace back under her uniform, resettling the chain and it's pendant so that no lines showed through. Nathaniel stopped watching her for a moment and was captivated by the bike. Ryan joined him, both moving around the bike in a circular motion. Distractedly, Nathaniel asked in plain awe,  
  
"What do you mean by "it's fixed"? What was wrong with it before?"  
  
Anastacia answered in the way she always did, with cool confidence, slight humility, and her accent fading into obscurity as she spoke faster.  
  
"I was riding away from a mob of mutant-haters about last year and I  
wiped out when one of them got a hold of a flame-thrower. I should be  
burned all on my left side but something pulled me off the bike last  
minute. Sadly, the bike slid out of control and hit a light pole. The  
weird thing was, I didn't float back down to the pavement, but over to  
an empty alley here my mom was waiting on her bike. Seriously, she  
said my guardian angel was working over time to save me, but forgot  
about my baby. She must have called in a million favors to find it,  
let alone get it fixed. I don't know how she did it."  
  
Kurt plucked the note from where Nathaniel had dropped it.  
  
"You mean that was your mother? Whoa... But what did she mean by a late  
birthday present??"  
  
Anastacia laughed then looked slightly sheepish.  
  
"My birthday was January third. I'm officially 20 years old. I guess I  
forgot to mention it. Sorry."  
  
Keyaira stared at 'the queen' in blatant shock.  
  
"How could you forget to mention your birthday??? It's probably one of  
the best days in the year! Birthdays, I mean, not just yours."  
  
Looking down, the older girl scuffed the toe of her black boots as if she were a child.  
  
"Whatever. I was happy with it."  
  
Nathaniel fixed her with another stare, this one less searching.  
"But we weren't. Right after this battle, we're all going to have a  
proper birthday party for you. With lots of sugar and balloons and all  
that stuff. So just deal with it, Selena." The group returned to circling the bike, muttering in awe.  
  
#@#@ Shrubbery around the front drive of the Institute   
  


* * *

  
Remy LaBeau, Tenzo, Samantha Sparks, and Alyssa Triper shifted uncomfortably in the bushes, trying to find any way to stay out of sight and out of pain. Remy counted the teens on the front steps, most unknown to him except Kurt Wagner a.k.a. Nightcrawler, foster brother to the beautiful and untouchable Rogue. Just the thought of her vicious glare, sent a small shiver up Remy's spine, in only the way thinking of a beautiful woman could. Speaking of beautiful women, Alyssa was fighting a losing battle between her knee-high boots and crouching in the damp earth. Unfortunately, the earth won and over she went, knocking down first Remy, then Samantha, and then Tenzo, as if her teammates were dominos. Remy began swearing in fast French under his breath as he sat back up and dusted off his trenchcoat. Samantha began giggling, and Remy remembered with a flash that she could speak French too. Samantha smiled sweetly, responding to his string of swears.  
  
"Je ai juste laissé qu'une glissière. Mais quand vous parlez comme  
celui, n'oubliez pas qu'il y a des dames autour."  
("I'll just let that one slide. But when you speak like that, don't  
forget there are ladies around.")  
  
Remy relaxed, stealing back his smug smile.  
  
"J'apprécie cela. Ne voudrait pas ma réputation pendant qu'un mauvais  
type écartait autour."  
("I appreciate that. Wouldn't want my reputation as a bad guy spread  
around.")  
  
Tenzo sat up, rubbing his head and brushing dirt off his black T-shirt. Carefully surveying the group, he did his own counting. 'Four guys, two girls,' he calculated, 'One really big guy, it seems like he could beat up anyone of his friends. Definitely somebody good to have on your side.' He was forced out of his thoughts as Samantha snapped shut the video camera, fully charged with a blank tape, ready to record the movements of both the X-Men and the Brotherhood. Nodding to those who surrounded her, she inched forward carefully. Alyssa glanced at Remy, adjusting her halter top anxiously.  
  
"So we're just here to watch? We can't hop in if we get bored??? Come  
on, Remy. Just a little bit of fighting??"  
  
Shaking his head sharply, he caught the girl pretending to pout and chuckled lightly. Slowly, the group crept forward, hiding behind more bushes until they were closer yet still concealed.  
  
#@#@ Front drive area of the Institute   
  


* * *

  
Still the group was surrounding Anastacia's bike when a fire ball went sailing over Ryan's shoulder. The group was on guard immediately, Nathaniel drawing his sword out from the scabbard and Ryan cracking his knuckles. In the center of the front drive was an angel statue in a fountain, covered in shadow until Seyla ignited another fire ball, bouncing it onto her other clawed hand. Holding it higher, it illuminated her now silver hair, larger golden eyes, two furry fox ears sticking from the top of her head, and a bushy silver tail swinging behind her. Ryan let out an involuntary gasp as he noticed the tail. Daniel materialized, an arm stretched across Seyla's shoulders and a smug smile in the competition's direction. Keyaira stepped forward, muttering obscenities and glaring at that boy until Ryan stretched his arm in front of her. Meeting her eyes, he whispered gently,  
  
"Don't worry about it. I'll beat his head in for you. How about that?"  
  
Keyaira didn't stop glaring, but nodded furiously. The fire lamp showed plain black clothes, but also Denise, perched on the edge of the fountain. Standing, she tried to look imposing but considering how short she was, it wasn't very intimidating. Kurt snorted, and it was for the first time Denise caught sight of the Elf. Leaning over towards Seyla, she whispered,  
  
"Who's that?!?!?!"  
  
"The enemy."  
  
"Why does the enemy have to be so darn cute??"  
  
"Focus, Vesuvius. You can hit on him while you hit him. OK?"  
  
"Works for me."  
  
Anne saw the growing size of the fire lamp and backed up several steps, promptly knocking into Blob.  
  
"Sorry, Freddy. Fire makes me a bit skittish."  
  
Fred replied in utter confusion.  
  
"But Seyla's your roommate."  
  
Anne shrugged.  
  
"You learn to live with it."  
  
In the bushes, Tenzo stiffened, which was ironic for a guy with the codename Liquid. This girl was something different, something unique he hadn't seen in awhile. Shaking off that feeling, he watched in surprise as the water in the fountain rose, taking on the form of a hand, raising it's middle finger at those assembled on the steps. Mike let out an indignant huff, ready to stomp off immediately into battle with his offenders. Jason smirked at the reaction he had caused. Lance slammed a foot to the ground and let a tremor fly, knocking the court into each other. Toad hopped to sit on the head of the angel and Wanda stood next to Anne, slightly off to he side, looking highly bored. Anastacia, suddenly aware of her newly fixed bike, exchanged a hurried glance with Nathaniel. By some unspoken language, she hopped on the bike and started it, riding it around the corner of the mansion, her braid flapping behind her. Jason found the opportunity and his voice, yelling across the small distance.  
  
"Come on! You're just making it harder on yourself. Just give up now!"  
  
As if on cue, several flame throwers burst from the ground. Clearly, Pixel was feeling unloved. The throwers occupied Fred, Todd, Seyla, and Daniel, the rest of their team spreading out. Nathaniel looked around, tightening his grip on his sword, wondering, 'Who'll make the first move?' It didn't take very long as Jason sent his spout of water at Ryan and Keyaira, but getting nothing wet. Mike threw up his hands and motioned at the space between Anne and Lance, a flash of red light distracting them as when they looked at each other, Lance's hair was light auburn and he was speckled with freckles. Anne had grown two inches taller, her hair turning a muddled brown and a tremor ripping loose when she realized what had happened. Keyaira stole a moment to laugh, but was caught off guard as a set of cold hands wrapped around her neck. With what was left of her breath, she hissed in desperation for her teammates help. Ryan spun, screaming obscenities as he punched just over her right shoulder. Daniel came into view, stumbling backwards and reeling before he jumped at Lynx. Nathaniel flexed his hands around his sword, waiting for someone to attack him, until he noticed nearly twenty tiny sharpened bamboo spears flying at his head. With small effort, he sliced them to harmless bits and looked frantically around for the perpetrator. Darcy stood at the back, behind everything, looking rather bored. Noticing what little effect her spears had had on the man, she bent down to touch one of the large stone benches. Concentrating, she felt weaker and noticed the bench start to kick like a restless dog. Holding up his sword to block hex bolts, Nathaniel noticed his former attacker slump down near the fountain and the bench in front of her spring to life. Barreling past Denise, the bench sprang at him. Unable to defend from both the bolts and the bench, he slowly extended scaly bronze armor along his arms under his coat, closed his eyes, and braced for the attack. When it didn't hit him, he cracked open an eye to see it simply floating in mid- air. Looking around, he saw Anastacia standing near a corner, arms upraised, smiling wickedly at him.  
  
"Honestly, Calina. What would you do without me??"  
  
Returning the wicked smile, he remarked sarcastically,  
  
"I'd be horribly lost. Horribly, horribly lost, my dear Czarina."  
  
Seyla snapped, the fire ball she had been juggling floating 5 feet above her head to expand to nearly 25 ft. in diameter. Raising her arms, she caught the ball on invisible threads and screamed,  
  
"Now you'll know why they call me Foxfire!!!!!"  
  
Flicking her hands forward, and the fire ball followed suit. Anastacia abandoned the bench which fell to crash on the patio and turned towards the ball. Ryan was battling with an invisible Daniel, noticed the ball and yelled for Keyaira, who was collapsed from her lack of air.  
  
"Key! Get out of there!!!"  
  
Keyaira looked up to see the shifting globe of fire, leaving smoking embers in its wake and swore, glancing frantically for an exit. Ryan ignored Ghost for a split second, allowing the Brit to land a punch as he tried to get to Key. Pietro was running backwards away from one of the flame-throwers when one of his heels caught lump of flesh and he tripped over Keyaira Creed. The great Quicksilver tripped! He spun as the ball of flame passed overhead, grimacing as the girl sat up, her hair in her eyes. Huffing, he burst off, slightly nursing his pride and trying to forget those green eyes looking up at him. Kurt bamfed out of the path of the ball, it striking upon the stone wall of the mansion and singing the beige stone wall. Denise sat a bit straighter and felt a cosmic tug from her heart. Lifting her hands, Denise pulled from below, much like Seyla holding onto her fire balls. Mike felt the earth tremble beneath him and tried to search for it's cause. Another of the girls was sitting on the fountain, her eyes an odd shade of fiery red, her fingers twitching. The earth shook again, a tremor not made by Avalanche but by someone else. Denise felt it tug again and stood, aiming her twitching hands at Nathaniel who was brushing embers off his jacket before getting a thought. Smirking, she aimed her outstretched hands at that cute blue elf and pulled upwards. A fountain of lava erupted from off to the left of Kurt and he couldn't help but flinch. Teleporting ten feet away, he looked around nervously, only to find that the lava was following him. Three more BAMFS later and the lava had burnt a path around the front path before Kurt noticed the short brunette smiling wickedly at him, sitting on the fountain edge. He bamfed to the top of the angel statue and smiled as the girl dived out of the way of her own stream of lava. The girl who had slumped to the edge of the fountain, moved sluggishly away, collapsing under one of the trees lining the path. The other members of the Court were moving furiously to avoid the lava and assaults from the Brotherhood. Anastacia was dodging the furious advances of several pieces of shrubbery, thorny vines whipping around her arms and slashing at her uniform. The more she ripped them off, the thicker they grew, Anne stifling her giggles. One thorns struck deep and Anastacia ripped out with her TK, leaping at Dryad. Fred saw the leap and reached out to grab the blonde by the neck. Suddenly, his arm felt heavier and heavier as he lowered her farther to the ground. Anastacia locked eyes with him, growling, despite the hand at her neck.  
  
"You should really check your genealogy, buddy. I've got unstoppable  
in my blood and you can't do anything about it."  
  
Wrapping her hand around his knuckles, she squeezed, his bones popping audibly as his hand was pried away. With some extreme force, she flung the Blob into the open space of the path. Anne stumbled backwards as Anastacia glowered, rubbing her neck. Kurt returned his brunette's wicked smile, and she furiously fanned out her hands, the lava now free flowing. Mike hopped backwards avoiding the molten rock, falling backwards against the stone of the porch. Keyaira scooped Ryan away onto the porch as Anastacia and Nathaniel did quick acrobatics to do the same. Mike only vaguely remembered seeing a small pink clad figure rush past him, onto the untouched patch of land toward the fountain, giggling. She skidded to a halt, looking around helplessly, and everyone froze, Anastacia screaming wordlessly in horror. Cassidy Schwartz was trapped in the middle of a lake of molten lava.  
  


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Cliffhanger. I'm entitled a few actually, as an authoress. If you don't review, I don't update. You never know if I'll keep it going. Please review.  
  
To pyroyoko: I would give up, but I'm not that kinda person. Please update or I will go crazy! 


	9. End of the CliffhangerBegining of Loyalt...

New chapter. Sorry for the long time between updates!  
  
Usual rules apply. Don't own anything.........  
  
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For a split second, no one did anything, but when a bubble in the lava burst, they rushed to attention. Anastacia dashed onto the thin path of land that was still untouched, gathering speed. Denise spread her hands and the lava obeyed momentarily before control eluded her. Anastacia caught Cassidy about her waist and used her TK to propel them both to land awkwardly inside the fountain rim. Mike looked to Kurt desperately and pleaded,  
  
"Can't you do anything?"  
  
Kurt shook his head, almost furious.  
  
"No, the lava is too unstable and there's no room left in that fountain." Denise extended her hands again but Jason knocked them down.  
  
"They're the enemy," he reminded. Denise sputtered, looking at him, totally unbelieving.  
  
"She's just a child," Denise shrieked, "it doesn't matter what team she's on!!!!" Anne extended branches, vines, roots, anything organic that surrounded the lake of magma. The hidden Acolytes, once realizing that their refuge was rushing to Anne's command, scrambled over the stone wall. Alyssa glared pointedly at Remy now, her voice highly agitated.  
  
"Can we do something now??" Remy squirmed, glancing at Samantha for help and finding none. She had removed her gloves and was anxiously cracking her knuckles, mirroring Alyssa's glare. Tenzo was utterly fixed on the proceedings, as he was the one holding the video camera, but he shrugged and muttered, "Let's see how they're gonna get themselves out of this first. Then if they need us, or more to the point if they need the girls' special talents with water, then they can have their fun. Just sit tight girls." All present finalized the silent agreement and turned back to the situation at hand. Anne extended the webbing of forestry further, adding strength instead of speed. Pietro pulled her shoulder back and the growth paused.  
  
"Are you sure this is good?" Anne's eyes narrowed as she looked briefly at him before turning back.  
  
"If this is wrong, I don't want to be right," she spat. "I'm not a villain and I won't just sit by as a child gets hurt, especially when I could have done something about it." Pietro took a step back and looked at Jason.  
  
"What are you going to do now, Mr. Magic?" Jason shrugged nervously and Lance shook his head, slightly perturbed.  
  
"Get the kid," he spat at the Brotherhood. "Let the other one find her own way out." He slammed his foot down, the resulting tremor splitting a crack in the earth where some of the lave fell away. He clenched his fist, forcing the gap to spread, but still the lava creeped dangerously close to the fountain rim. Anastacia pushed Cassidy up into the arms of the statue, losing some of her cool when Cassidy noticed the look of restrained panic on her protector's face. Spurred by that look, she climbed farther up the statue and turned toward the stone deck where the Court had taken refuge, screaming,  
  
"Nate!!!!! Natey, get us out of here!!!!!!" Mike would have laughed at the nickname, but the horrible look of helplessness on Nathaniel's face was enough to tear out his heart. Keyaira looked wild, turning on the larger teen.  
  
"Can't you do anything???" Nathaniel grimaced and removed his trench coat, his body armor glinting from the dull light of the magma. He turned towards the fountain and Keyaira was struck with how the armor did not continue along his back and shoulder blades. He looked over his shoulder, brows furrowed minutely.  
  
"You might want to take a step back." The group took a collective leap backwards and waited. Barely five seconds later, the black fabric covering Nathaniel's back burst open, revealing tan skin and two bundled scaly appendages. He stretched the coppery wings without thinking, a ridge of spiked scales rising into view between them from under his hairline to under what remained of the outfit. The Court gaped as he flexed the wings again, stretching the beige membranes that connected the thick bones. He pressed the wings down and lifted off into the air, sending gusts of wind behind him. Anne's web reached out fully now, thick sections of wood and vines reaching out to the two girls. Nathaniel reached the fountain in two wing strokes, hovering as he yelled to Anastacia.  
  
"Give me your hand!" She shook her head vehemently, her hair going crazy from the wind.  
  
"You have to take Cassidy first! Then come back for me." He yelled back without thinking.  
  
"I can carry you both. Now come on!" Anastacia's expression didn't change.  
  
"Liar! You can't hold us both up and fly. Don't forget, I train with you Calina. I know you're limitations and you can't carry us both. Take Cassidy before I pull you out of the sky and use you as a stepping stone. NOW GO!" Nathaniel pulled up the toddler as per instruction, but when she realized what he was doing, Cassidy screamed wordlessly and grasped for Anastacia. She blew the small girl a kiss before climbing up into the upraised arms of the angel statue. Anne relaxed a bit as the tall blonde reached closer to the outstretched branches, but as she did so, the vines rested against the lava and caught on fire. Anne screamed, falling back against Daniel and Seyla, lifting rapidly with her powers. Remy noticed Tenzo twitch from where he was crouched, the teen trying hard not to cry out. Jason acted automatically, shooting a geyser of water from his palm which doused the flame. He paused. Darcy mumbled in a gravelly voice, slumping toward Jason.  
  
"Don't stop now, Hydro, cool the lava." Jason nodded, Todd helping Darcy stand up. Jason was using two hands now, the lava cooling but not quick enough. Anastacia was still reaching for the forestry, but it shrank back from her. Jason reeled, his geysers faltering. From the brush, Alyssa took her cue and spread her fingers, eyes glowing silvery and used her power over water to increase the blasts. Sam took it as well, using the water to create a massive maelstrom which whipped through the branches, cooling the lava all that much quicker. Anastacia abandoned reaching for the webbing as the wind and water worked in vicious swirls, clinging to the statue. Jason looked around bewildered, as did everyone except Remy and Tenzo.  
  
"Who the hell is doing this?" He screamed into the whipping water. "I don't have this much damn power." Nathaniel bent over Cassidy, shielding her with his wings. Mike grabbed Keyaira and forced her down against the stone. Kurt and Ryan wrapped their tails around the low column wall, holding on tighter. Kurt heard a muffled voice chanting in an odd language, until he realized it was Anastacia praying in hurried Russian. Kurt nodded, crossing himself with a three-fingered hand, thinking, 'Seems appropriate.' Remy shook both girls, Samantha's eyes snapping into focus. Alyssa shrugged and stepped away from the wall.  
  
"I think we did good," she muttered sleepily. The maelstrom died down, showing a layer of smoky black rock, the fountain intact. Anastacia slid down and slumped against the statue, her hair and uniform drenched. The Court rose, Nathaniel still holding Cass in his arms. He nodded to Anne and she muttered,  
  
"No big thing. But it won't happen again. Watch out for your girl next time." The Brotherhood took off back to the house with wounds of some kind. Seyla had a vicious scratch from Keyaira and Daniel was nursing a black eye. Anne, Jason, Darcy, and Denise were all suffering from overuse of their powers, Anne and Denise shaking viciously. Fred walked them along, with an arm over each of their shoulders. Quicksilver was sulking though. The only thing that had hurt Pietro Maximoff tonight was that girl and she had hit his pride, the most tender of all. 'Who was that girl?' And somewhere already far away, Tenzo was thinking the same thing about a certain auburn-haired terra-kinetic (1). It had certainly been an interesting night. Back at the mansion, Mike scrambled across the lava and wrapped an arm around her sagging waist, pulling her up a bit.  
  
"We didn't do too bad," he smiled jovially. The double doors burst open, Andrew sliding along the porch to stop in front of Nathaniel and pluck Cassidy from his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head in his shoulder. Keyaira helped support Andrew as Nathaniel and Ryan picked their way across the lava to support Mike and Anastacia. Ryan nudged Mike, mumbling something about a gash on his back. Mike twisted and looked at the cut, smiling crazily.  
  
"Oh, would you look at that," He said, his voice threateningly light, his eyes rolling back slightly. Ryan pulled him off the tall blonde and started walking him toward the Med Bay. Nathaniel took Mike's place holding up Anastacia. She shivered, snuggling into his chest to keep warm. Her voice was tiny.  
  
"You're a real jerk, Calina. But you're a damn brave jerk." He smiled softly, holding her closer as they began walking.  
  
"You're a damn brave jerk too, Selena." As they entered the mansion, it was just Kurt standing on the Patio looking out on the mess the battle had created.  
  
"Man! How the hell am I going to explain this to the Professor?????"  
  
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I think this was the chapter where I made everybody curse so much. So sorries. Also sorry that this took so long. At least seven reviews for the next chapter, although I'll probably be working on it after I update this. Please review this people. I want to keep updating.  
  
1) Terra-kinetic means able to control earth.  
  
Read+Review pleases......... 


	10. Ruin a good thing

Awww... Reviewers, you were just so cute I have to respond.  
  
Moonfire Goddess- I'm all for changing names but I couldn't imagine changing mine. If I did, how would you all recognize me? But I do love your new name and thanks for your support.  
  
Deacon- I like to keep the swearing to a minimum, but that's good to know for the future. Thanks! I was trying really hard because I was rereading the first part and it was kinda confusing.  
  
Dee Saylors- Let's just say I took your advice on both parts. ^_^HEHE Enjoy and thanks!  
  
Kitrazzle Fayn- I've never been glomped before!!! Yay, new experiences. Yep, porr confuddled Pietro. Thanks for you love!!! It means soooo much.  
  
Unknown reviewer- Hey, double the reviews, double the fun. Thank you!!  
  
Disclaimer: You know the drill.  
  
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^^ Narrator has one of two lines ^^ Just after that same fight at the Brotherhood house, one member finds a reason not to celebrate their semi-victory.  
  
#@#@ Brotherhood House #@#@  
  
Denise Saylors clinked her glass of cream soda and backed away from the boys and their boisterous singing. 'Why are they singing like drunks?' She scaled the stairs and rushed down to the end of the hall. 'Annie and Darce are still sleeping,' she chided, forcing her steps lightly. She reached the large window sill just outside Jason's room and leaned against phone table. 'We really screwed up,' she remembered with a hiss. 'I really screwed up.' Placing her soda on the table, she lifted the phone book and thumbed through for the desired number. As she dialed, she wrapped the cord around her index finger and prayed for a certain person to pick up. Without waiting for her answer, she spoke first.  
  
"I'm sorry about tonight." Wincing, she thought how stupid she sounded, but the feeling was banished when she heard a German accent reply.  
  
"Hello? Who is this?" Kurt Wagner was perplexed as to who would be calling at such an hour. Denise continued, undaunted.  
  
"Somebody from the Brotherhood. Name's Vesuvius but my friends call me Denise."  
  
"Lava girl?" Denise smirked, nerves fading a bit.  
  
"Yep. I'm sorry. For Hydro's attitude. For my mistake. I'm sorry I can't control my powers." Kurt leaned against the wall, hearing the small sorrow in her voice.  
  
"It happens to everybody." He meant it honestly, wanting to comfort her. Denise changed the subject and wiped her eye quickly.  
  
"Is the kid OK?" Kurt sensed the urgency in her voice and moved on.  
  
"Yep. She's fine. Shook up, but fine." Denise nodded, remembering how scared the toddler had looked.  
  
"That's good." 'What else was there to say about it?' she thought helplessly. Thankfully, he filled the gap.  
  
"So how did you find us here?" Denise laughed silently, feeling less serious and unknowingly changing to a flirty voice.  
  
"I have my resources." Kurt laughed at the playfully ominous tone to her voice and responded incredulously.  
  
"Oh really?" Denise didn't miss a beat.  
  
"Yeah. You guys are listed. You know. The phone book."  
  
"Arrgh. I knew they'd do that sooner or later. Dirty rat finks." Denise laughed heartily, not caring who heard her. 'Stop while I'm ahead,' she thought.  
  
"Yeah. Bye." She slammed the phone down before he could say anything and ruin her feeling. Giggling helplessly, she slid into the room she shared with Darcy and fell onto the bed. Her smile was big enough to smother a small child.  
  
#@#@ Charlie's diner in lower Bayville #@#@  
  
Havok smiled as he entered Charlie's and slid into a booth. The only other occupants of the bright fluorescent restaurant were two teens clad in baggy black clothes and a ditzy teenage waitress flipping through a magazine as she popped gum bubbles. One of the teens was a girl, sitting in the booth in front of him, munching on cheese fries. 'Hello, Voodoo,' he thought cheerfully, able to recognize that chin-length hair anywhere. He looked over at the chrome table directly adjacent. Afat Quel Sama was sipping on a cup of black coffee and trying not to look at the girl in the next booth. 'You wimp,' he though to himself again. 'Ask her out already.' When Afat ducked his head to sip his coffee again, Havok snorted and caught the waitress' attention. She bounced over and flashed him a flirtatious smile. 'If only,' he thought but spoke aloud,  
  
"A cup of coffee, beautiful."  
  
She returned like her feet were on fire and smiled again in that obvious way. When he didn't respond, she flounced off in a very undignified manner. He sipped the coffee and winced at the bitter taste. 'And no sugar on the table,' he noticed. 'Well, now's a better time than ever. No excuses left.' Havok took a deep breath and changed to the other side of the booth and tapped Voodoo on the shoulder. She turned, both eyes humorously shocked. It made the sweetness in his voice much easier.  
  
"Excuse me beautiful, you wouldn't happen to have any sugar, would you? I mean, any other than your natural sweetness." Afat snorted, forgetting he was trying to ignore Kara.  
  
"What a line." Havok smiled again. This was too easy. He replied in his best mock voice, which came natural.  
  
"You think you can do better, punk?" Afat's indignation would solve all his problems with this situation.  
  
"Who are you calling punk, Mr. Earring?" Havok suppressed the smile as Kara looked back and forth between the teens.  
  
"Boys, just settle. It's not that big a deal." Havok smiled broadly this time, playing on the knowledge he had of these two.  
  
"Oh, I think it is a big deal. Especially when we three appear to be very similar and you know the saying." Afat responded without fail.  
  
"If you say that fucking 'birds of a feather' line, I'll strangle you with the sleeves of your trench coat."  
  
"You have a trench coat too," he replied innocently. Kara was quick on the uptake.  
  
"I think the point is that it's more fun with your sleeves." Afat looked at her open-mouthed, his respect growing.  
  
"Yeah," he said dully. She glanced over at him, nodding to prove she understood, but overcome when she saw his right eye was pearly white like her own left. Havok remembered what he had thought after seeing both of them. 'They compliment each other. In more ways than that. But that one's just cosmic.'  
  
"However cheesy, it is true. Scary rocker mutants that we are..." Kara's eyes flashed quickly as she looked sternly at him, hissing.  
  
"Don't say that too loud. I don't want to have to find another coffeeshop." Afat looked shocked.  
  
"You too?" Kara responded, undaunted.  
  
"They hate us." Havok felt great sympathy for both of these souls, his heart aching for another Goth who thought less on the world.  
  
"Not everybody." Afat was the most bitter however.  
  
"We're safer with our own kind." Havok took his opportunity and prayed it worked.  
  
"Then why the hell are we sitting at three separate tables?" Kara considered this and beckoned to both boys. Havok hopped over the seat and squeezed next to the girl. Afat held back his jealous look and slid into the seat across from them. Havok broached his idea quickly.  
  
"They have groups here. Fellow mutants banding together for a common cause. Or some crap like that." Kara wrinkled her nose.  
  
"Are you proposing we band together? I barely know you guys." Afat did the same, only with a more sour look.  
  
"I don't even know you're name ,asshole. How can I trust you." Havok found his humor before he could stop himself.  
  
"Asshole's one of my name's. I like to trade them off. Went around as Angelo today in the mall. Scared some people witless. Nope not a banding thing, just a support group. It'd be nice to have some people worth trusting in this town." Afat's eyes narrowed as he sat a bit straighter.  
  
"How do we know we can trust you?" Kara looked at him with equally narrowed eyes.  
  
"When did 'we' become 'we'?"  
  
"Sorry," he muttered. She sighed and shook her, exasperated.  
  
"No, you're right. Listen, I'll trust both of you because I'm just getting this feeling that if I don't, one of you is gonna get themselves into a boatload of trouble. I'm Kara Brook, somebody called me Voodoo once and it stuck. And I have no place to stay." The other teen seemed to cave as well, making Havok smile.  
  
"Afat Quel Sama a.k.a. Snake. Ditto on the no place to stay." Havok was about to start dancing. Everything was working out!  
  
"You guys are in such luck. I have an apartment downtown I'm not really using. Two bedrooms, two baths, nice kitchen, nice living space. I'm not really using it and you guys can feel free to." Afat looked suspicious. 'No,' Havok screamed mentally. 'Don't ruin the good thing!'  
  
"Why are you doing this? We just met." Havok grimaced at the explaining part.  
  
"Actually, in my spare time, I've been keeping tabs on all the free roaming mutants. Trailing both of you for at least 2 weeks now." Kara seemed to be in a state of shock as she asked in a monotone voice,  
  
"How and why?" Afat was till getting used to this knowledge and nodded dumbly.  
  
"How is my little secret. But why, God only knows. You two wander around like lost puppies looking for something to do. I can't give you something to do, but I can give you that place to stay. Take it or leave it. Friendship and trust with just a dash of loyalty for no rent and a pretty well stocked fridge and pantry. I got lotsa munchies?" somehow, the crack about munchies had convinced Kara.  
  
"I'm in," she stated simply. Afat nearly jumped at the chance.  
  
"Me too. Show us the way......" He waited for the other dark-haired teen to supply a name.  
  
"My minions would call me Havok if I had any minions. But remember, I like to rotate the names." Kara brushed it off and slid out of the booth.  
  
"Whatever. Meet me outside guys. I want to buy a paper."  
  
"Enjoy the obituaries?" Havok's voice was laced with sarcastic intentions.  
  
"It's ironic that the comics and the obituaries are on the same pages," She answered honestly. "Got a spare quarter for a lady?" Havok flipped her a quarter and she strode out, ignoring the bill for her cheese fries, which Havok picked up. He tossed down some money for both the fries and his coffee as Afat did the same. Both stood, Afat unknowingly looking for Kara through the window. Havok leaned in and whispered in the other boy's ear.  
  
"You know, the apartment doubles as a lovenest." Afat didnt' look away as he muttered.  
  
"You're getting the wrong idea." Havok turned toward him with genuine surprise.  
  
"Am I?" Afat paused and let out a heavy sigh.  
  
"Am I that transparent?" Havok laughed and clapped him on the shoulder.  
  
"Transparent and incorporeal. It's a wonder I can see you." Afat chuckled and they walked out the chrome double doors. Kara was waiting, paper folded under her arm. Havok threw his other arm over her shoulder and they walked down the street like three peas in a pod.  
  
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Hope you enjoyed this chapter people. I actually updated in a small amount of time!! Yay! Next update might be pretty soon, depends on my reviewers.  
  
Read and Review, or I hold the next chapter hostage!! LOL, Just kidding. But Review please. 


	11. I never learn don't report me please

You'd think I know better but I don't. Again, this quarter, my grades suck. I have no online at all. I'm so sorry guys. I was even working on the next chapter. MP3 is going on hiatus until May. I don't have any privileges, nor do I deserve them, in my opinion. Hopefully, I'll have a major piece of the story done by the time I can update again, but don't expect any updates any time soon. Thank you for supporting me this far. 


	12. Be Mine

Thanks for all the reviews. I found aloophole to update and so here it is. I'm working on then next chapter, I swear I'm going to start doing recommendations or dedications to whatever I was thinking of when I wrote the chapter. Today it was.........  
  
**MP3's Movie Recommendation:** Rollerball. Good movie that didn't get good reviews. Remake of the 1975 version, not quite as sci-fi as the original but still very good. Major Stars= Chris Klein, LL Cool J. Fav. Character(s)= Jester of the Golden Horde. _"Oh, look! A mine monkey on skates!"_ Denekin of the Horsemen. _"They're killing him for the ratings!"  
_  
(A/N- Ironically, Denekin was the mine monkey. )  
  
Rules as usual.........

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**Narrator gets bored   
**  
Still later on that night......  
  
**## The Xavier Institute ##  
**  
Anastacia Marko bundled up her wet uniform and threw it into her laundry pile. She slid quickly into a dry blue sports bra, button up silky blue pj top, and Mr. Bubble pj pants. Pulling on a new pair of white gloves, she pushed her hair out of her eyes and fell back on her bed. A sharp knock on the door made her sit up, but when Nathaniel peeked his head in, she fell back down again. 

"Hey," he said softly, sliding through the door. As always, Anastacia was acutely aware of how much skin anyone had exposed and Nathaniel was no different. Dressed simply in black boxers and a grey T- shirt, she was not only aware of that, but also how sweet and simple he looked.

"Hey," she responded. "So you put Cassidy down?" "Yeah. But only after I promised on my honor that you were alright." She smiled and beckoned him forward, sitting up against her wall with her legs folded under her. He sat on the edge of the bed, leaving ample space between them. Anastacia rested her head against the wall and looked up at the bookshelves that surrounded her room. She laughed when she spoke.

"She's gonna hate me, but I had to do it. I wouldn't be able to stand myself if she got hurt."

Nathaniel felt his throat catch as he looked at her. His voice was less silly. "I wouldn't be able to stand myself if you got hurt. You took a big risk."

She flashed him a superior look. "Paid off, didn't it?"

Nathaniel didn't change his tone. "But you didn't know it would. How could you just do that?"

She shrugged and smoothed her hair compulsively. "Just have a bit of faith, that's all."

Nathaniel laughed at the simplicity. "You are unlike any other person I've met in my life."

Anastacia laughed as well. "Well, it'd be a pretty boring world if everyone were the same," she answered.

They laughed together for a minute, Nathaniel stopping short to watch her for a moment. He reached out and clasped her gloved hand, leaning against his elbow on the bed. "Go out with me," he said sincerely.

Anastacia stopped laughing and stared down at him dumbly. "What?"

He wasn't deterred. "Go out with me. Be my girlfriend."

She sighed, her face contorting sadly. "I can't."

Nathaniel narrowed his eyes and asked in a much harsher tone, "Why?"

Anastacia freed her hand and folded them in her lap, looking down to avoid the question. He slid forward until he was nearly in her lap, meeting her eyes. She glanced away but did not force him out of her lap. "It's a long story."

He wasn't moving an inch. "I have all the time in the world."

She scowled and leaned forward as she berated him. "No you don't. I hate that saying. I don't understand why people say that."

He sighed as she sat back against the wall, still scowling. His voice was slightly patronizing. "It's a good excuse to spend time with someone. Now tell me."

She tangled her gloved hand in his dreadlocks. When she looked back down, her voice was sad. "How am I supposed to tell you if I don't even know where to start?"

Nathaniel smiled up at her, his voice soft but probing. "At the beginning, Selena. That's always the best place."

Anastacia shrugged and began the long story, playing with his hair all the while. "When I was 14, I was a part of the student exchange program. I went to Russia, where my mother was born and I stayed with a family there for a year and a half. It wasn't actually near any big cities though. It was a collective farm called Ust-Ordynski, near Lake Baikal, in Siberia. I stayed with the Rasputin family and was home-schooled like their children. Their middle child was a mutant and he became my first boyfriend. My only boyfriend. Because of his mutation, his skin changed and I could touch him. It's silly to think that you can fall in love at such a young age, but I did, we did. We were only 15 but there it was. I loved him, for who he was and because he could touch me."

Nathaniel held up a hand and she stopped. 'That's where she got the necklace,' he pieced together. He felt so stupid just having to ask her this. "Stop. I don't understand your mutation to understand to know why that's important to you."

She sighed and looked off in the distance. "That is an entirely different long and complicated story. The short version is that I can't have bare skin contact with anyone because it triggers something in my mutation that hurts me. I have heart attacks, seizures, asthma attacks, everything. And when I touch him, I don't. None of it happens. It just helped so much more that I loved him."

Nathaniel ignored the twinge of jealousy, holding back a wince, and asked innocently, "Loved?"

She met his eyes and muttered sourly, "You keep interrupting me."

Now he did wince. "Sorry. Continue."

She did, without the necessary command. "Anyway, when the year was up, I went home. We wrote letters everyday but my mom realized how sad I was without him. For my seventeenth birthday, I got a lap top, 2 new sweaters, a Polaroid camera, and my boyfriend flown in from Siberia. He had a sign around his neck that said 'From Russia with love.' He spent two weeks with me and my mom before he went home. I was so happy. My mom and I spent that summer in Russia and I thought I was in heaven. About two years ago over my birthday, he and my mom did the same thing. Except he spent two months with me, because he had graduated early. I thought it was going to be wonderful but it just wasn't. Near the end, we got in a fight. He said he wouldn't be able to keep coming, he had other priorities. We went riding on our motorcycles to calm our heads and got in a crash. I was hurt worse and when he saw me in the hospital, all I wanted to do was kiss him but he just started the argument again." She stopped, tears flowing slightly, and wiped her eyes with her left hand, the right still tangled in his hair. "Said he didn't think it was right, that I would have to kiss what he became. I said it didn't matter, I love you anyway. He just started babbling and all I can remember is kissing him, skin-to-skin. I blacked out. When I woke up, my nurse said he had been in another accident. He was dead before I could say I'm sorry."

He sat up this time, her gloved hand falling out of his hair to rest on the back of his neck. He peered at her damp eyes and hated that he had made her cry. Nathaniel reached out and placed his right hand under the collar of her nightshirt, about where her hand was on him. She tensed a little but relaxed when he spoke. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to drag up old memories."

Anastacia shrugged, rolling her eyes and giggling. "No it's OK."

"He gave you that necklace?" He nodded towards the jewelry that was peeking out from under her shirt.

She smiled and preened proudly. "On my 15th birthday."

Nathaniel whistled, thinking, 'He must have loved her, to have given her that at 15. How can I even compete?' "And you haven't stopped grieving?"

Anastacia looked like she'd been struck. "No, I guess I haven't," she replied amazedly. He cocked his head to one side thinking.

"I could start a whole speech about moving on and him wanting you to be happy. But I bet you've heard it before. It's your choice." He shrugged but didn't move his hand.

"You know you are a gem. You are unlike any person I've ever met in my life." She flashed him a dazzling smile, relishing in the joke.

He laughed and leaned his head back. "Well then we're just two of a kind."

She squinted at him in good humor. "Doesn't that defy the point?"

Now he laughed whole-heartedly as he berated her playfully. "Why do you have to look for logic when I'm flirting with you?"

She waggled her head at him, laughing as he did. "Can't you just take a hint?"

"You're not being very clear!"

She laughed again, moving closer, her expression playful. "One date. I can't guarantee anything."

Nathaniel held back his whoop of joy and replied nonchalantly, "That's OK. I'm a gambler."

Anastacia smiled crookedly. "Alright. Now get out."

Nathaniel felt like he had been punched in the stomach. "Huh?"

She laughed at the expression on his face and slid her hand away from his neck. "It's like two in the morning and I'm tired. I'm so far behind I think I'm ahead. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

He nodded agreement and reluctantly removed his hand from her neck. He rolled off the bed in a very ungainly manner, his shirt flying up to reveal well-defined abs and tanned skin. He shrugged comically. "If you say so. Sleep well, my queen."

Her smile grew wider and she fell to lay on the bed fully. "Pleasant dreams, my king." He smiled at the banter and nodded. He slid out of her door and closed it behind him. Nathaniel walked back to his room, smiling like a fool.  
  
Well? What do you think? Reviews are always welcome, tell me what you think. ReadReview!


	13. Oh! So that's what the camera was for!

I'm really drained, but good thing is, school is near completion and I have time at the computer again. I'm actually trying to work on my original story so, This is trading burners with that one. Anyway, hope you like this new chapter, it'll explain some stuff and I hope put me closer to the actual plot.  
  
**MP3's Movie Recommendation:** Summer Catch. Typical summer movie without a lot of angst and dram over... you guessed it, baseball. And I don't even like baseball. So many good characters, my favorites are one headliner and a back up act. Matthew Lillard as the catcher Billy Brubaker is an inspiration to me as a joke-cracking sarcastic wise-$$ and I aspire to find somebody like him. My other favorite is the boy in back-up. Marc Blucas plays an outfielder named Miles Dell Ripple (funny name) who has a fondness for ladies of a larger size. Since I also fall under that category and he is just such a cutie, you cant help but love him.  
  
Same old chestnut............

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## Magneto's base ##  
  
Erik Magnus Lensherr took a seat in the large winged chair and tapped his watch. 'Precisely 6 a.m.,' he noted, balling his hands into fists. 'They should have been back hours ago.' The rest of his Acolytes were still asleep mostly. The only person who might be up was Piotr, but he would stay in there until a reasonable hour. Raucous female laughter crashed through his thoughts as Samantha, Alyssa, Remy, and Tenzo entered the main area. Magneto stood and tapped his foot impatiently, the boot making an audible thump. Tenzo and Sam stopped walking but Alyssa was still laughing, Remy smiling broadly as he supported her swaggering. Tenzo cleared his throat and Alyssa seemed to realize that she was being watched. She stood a bit straighter and gave a weak smile to her uncle.

"You were dawdling," he said coldly and Alyssa winced.

"It was a long way back and traffic was terrible," she supplied in a weak voice.

He grimaced and pointed a leather gloved finger at the corner of her mouth. "You might want to get rid of the raspberry next time." Alyssa winced and wiped her mouth.

She licked the jelly off her hand and shrugged. Samantha yawned pointedly. "So can we go to sleep and review that DVD later?" Remy gave a hurried nod but slowed it when he noticed the look on his leader's face.

"You don't return when asked and you deal without sleep." The four groaned and trudged over to the huge electronic console. Tenzo took the center seat and pulled the recorder camera out of his coat pocket. Samantha leaned against his chair and Lyss leaned on her. Magneto watched as Tenzo took out the newly recorded DVD of the X-Men/Brotherhood battle and placed it in the slot, tilting his head in Remy's direction.

"Go wake your other teammates, they need to see this." Remy turned dejectedly and started up the winding stairs towards the dorms of the base. Tenzo accessed the menus and technical dials to set up the DVD. A mass of pale skin, black feathers, and red and black fabric dove over the railing of the stairs, announcing the rest of the team as Faith landed on the stone floor and padded over to the group. John hopped down each stair, dressed plainly in a white T-shirt and grey sweat pants, red hair horribly messed as he slid on white socks across the polished stone. Josephine came down after John, her dark green pjs slightly disheveled and her many bronze braids at odd angles. She followed John's example and slid across the stone, haphazardly slamming into John. He caught her and the pair smiled widely before giggling lightly. Piotr was more dressed than the rest, as Magneto had suspected, wearing a grey T- shirt tucked into black jeans. Like Faith, his bare feet slapped against the stone as he jogged lightly to surround the television screen. Remy ran behind him, mocking his enthusiasm, Samantha taking notice and smiling broadly. Magneto nodded to Tenzo who began the DVD, the first shot being of the Brotherhood entering the main drive of the Xavier Institute. Pietro was showing off as usual until Wanda hexed him against a wall.

"That's what you get Pie," Alyssa crowed as her cousin shook himself as he stood. Josephine chuckled and nodded heartily.

Two brunettes crossed the screen, and Magneto impulsively called, "Pause," to Tenzo.

The frame stopped as the pair glanced behind them, revealing a teenage boy and girl, the boy with a bruise on his eye and his arm around the girl's waist. "Hello Daniel," Magneto said to himself. He raised his voice as he pointed at the boy. "That is Ghost, power to become invisible and a temper as well."

Alyssa slid out of her leaning against Samantha and sat at another console, fingers flying as she typed what her uncle had said. "I don't know the girl by just her looks but keep an eye out for her," he continued. "Play again."

Tenzo restarted the DVD and watched as more of the Brotherhood crossed the screen. Magneto pointed out Lance, Fred, Todd, and Wanda as they moved around on the screen but when another mass of humanity passed the viewfinder, he called out "Pause."

He stared at the three girls and the boy on the screen and smiled. "Hydro shoots water from his hands, like geysers. And Mem makes inanimate objects come to life. Alyssa, check the database for the Alvers family tree, that girl looks just like Lance. The auburn-haired one, I know I've seen her somewhere but I can't place a name. Start a folder for her but leave the name blank, we'll get it eventually. Play the video again Tenzo." Tenzo nodded and started the video again. Figures became strewn in across the screen as the X-Men rushed out into view.

Alyssa reached over and paused the feed herself, turning to her uncle. "Their is a relation from Lance Alvers to a cousin named Denise Saylors, that girl. Spent two weeks in a juvenile delinquent center for vandalizing school property last year. The picture matches as does the modus operandi. Put in the info?"

Magneto glanced at the files Alyssa had pulled up and made a noise in the affirmative. Tenzo pushed her hand away from the control and stuck out his tongue at her. Lyss feigned distaste and began the typing and transferring. Tenzo tapped a code back into a number pad and brought the frozen picture back up. On the screen, two boys in shades of black and green for one, black and red for the other, skidded off the stone patio. The boy in red made a very ungraceful landing and several of the girls tittered with laughter.

Josie leaned in next to John, whispering, "I give him a 9. He didn't stick the landing well enough for a 10." John snickered and leaned in to tell Samantha the same. She laughed but quickly smoothed her expression when Magneto turned and gave her a stern look.

Alyssa was typing furiously to get all of the descriptions for both teens when a girl crossed the screen. "Stop," she called and Tenzo obeyed.

She caught up quickly but Magneto didn't give the command to start again. He squinted at the thin black-haired girl on the screen. "Where is Victor?" No one knew and didn't say anything but a rumbling voice behind them shattered the stillness of the Acolytes.

"Here, Erik, what do you want?" Sabertooth looked like he always did, scruffy and impatient.

Magneto looked amused. "Don't you recognize that young lady, Sabertooth?"

When Victor Creed glanced up at the screen, he did something for the first time in his life. He choked and took a step back. Remy turned around with the most unbelieving look on his face as Sabertooth took several steps back as her tried to regain his composure. "Is she," he started but stopped and began again. "So she's with Xavier?" Magneto nodded and Victor just turned and stalked off.

Faith tugged on Piotr's sleeve. "Who is she?"

He smiled and stared back at the screen as he answered. "She's his daughter. And she hates him."

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There is another part to this, but I didn't want to deprive you of a chapter. The next chapter will be a direct continuation of this one. Please review. In response to all of my reviewers, I am trying to work one-on-one' with all of you characters into the plot, but that one was the first. Thank you for all of your love!! ReadReview pleases...... 


	14. Broken promises

Thanks for the support, here's the next section. No movie review today.  
  
darkstorm5000- Thank you, you made my day.

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## Back at Magneto's Lair/Base/Thingie ##  
  
Faith let out a low whistle and leaned her cheek against Piotr's arm, wrapping both of her arms around one of his larger ones. She shivered and squeezed, Piotr giving her a puzzling look. "It's sad," she whispered.

Piotr nodded and showed her a weak smile. "That's the way the world works sadly."

She turned back towards to monitor and muttered, "Well that sucks." His smile doubled and he looked back at the screen as well.

Magneto tapped his foot as he stared at the girl on screen. "Keyaira Creed, agility, invisibility, feline peripheral senses," he said to Alyssa. "Connect the family tree to Victor's, mother unknown. Continue the feed, Tenzo." By now, Tenzo was getting sick of being treated like a trained seal but restarted the DVD anyway. A cloud of black smoke with a spark of silver appeared next to the boy in red and black, the smoke clearing and revealing an elf-like teen covered in fine blue hair. Tenzo automatically stopped the images but Alyssa waved him on, muttering, "We have information on Kurt. Keep going."

As the DVD began again the last two figures exited the mansion, Magneto guffawed and Remy and John stared in open disbelief. Magneto slapped his knee and gained control of himself as Tenzo again paused the feed. "That," Magneto began but failed as another laugh took him over. "That man is Nathaniel Washington, the one man slaughterhouse known as Kaiser. Anything I tell you about him or his powers won't matter because he could beat any of you without much trying. Never underestimate that man for he is as ruthless as he is unpredictable." Piotr shook off Faith and pushed his way to behind Magneto, the others taking several steps back and giving a wide berth.

Magneto turned towards Piotr, pointing at the blonde woman on the screen, and smiled ironically. "Do you know her Peter?"

Piotr did something no one expected, He pushed Magneto backwards, the older man slamming into an empty chair. "No," he screamed, his face contorting. "You promised! You promised she'd be safe!"

Magneto righted himself and brushed himself off, his voice oddly confident. "I can not help what Charles does with his niece. Nor can I help what your teammates will do in battle."

Piotr's eyes narrowed and he regained some of his composure. His voice had lost some of its anger but was replaced with a piteous tinge as he begged. "I'll give you anything if you promise not to hurt her."

Magneto was more shocked than anything as he asked with real sincerity, "What do you have left to give up for this girl?"

Piotr's eyes had leaked slightly but he didn't falter as met his leader's eyes. "Everything, without any though or meaning. I'd die for her if you asked me too. Just don't hurt her."

"And where would that put her? Dying for her?" Erik Lensherr was close to breaking but he kept up the act.

Piotr lost it, yelling again. "She doesn't even know I'm alive! I died for her once, what would it matter if I died again??"

"You never know what's going to happen," Erik said in a monotone voice.

"If she gets hurt," Piotr said, his voice like ice now, "I will not be held responsible for my actions." He stalked off, glaring at John as the Aussie tried to pipe up and be sympathetic.

Magneto tugged the collar of his cape straight and muttered, "Watch the rest of the tape, study the moves. Then go get some rest." He turned and exited to another part of the base. Alyssa vaulted over the back of her chair and rushed at Remy. Samantha, Josephine, and Faith all wrapped a hand around Remy's neck. Alyssa was the last to wrap her hand around Remy's neck.

The Cajun looked sheepish and chuckled nervously, "You mean you didn't know?"

Josie squeezed tighter and spat, "Tell us you poofy wise ass croissant."

Tenzo laughed but Remy started the story, mumbling quickly. "You know Petey's got a heart of gold inside that tin chest and Magneto can control him without really trying. To get him on our side, he captured his family and held the them hostage for Petey's powers. I'm guessing this girl got roped into the deal once Mag's realized she was important to him."

Faith whistled as she freed her hand. "Really important."

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Next chapter will definitely be a bit more fun. I'm going to focus on some other stuff besides this line. My stories are weavings that will seem like weird loose threads but in the end, will come together. Have faith and review...... 


	15. Are you ok? Movie as a verb?

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You guys are so darn sweet with your reviews!!! I love you all.  
  
Dee Saylors- Yeah, Piotr's got it rough. Here's the next chapter.  
  
Roguephoenix- Here's Lynx! Don't worry, I wouldn't forget him. Thank you for saying this rocks.  
  
UNKNOWN REVIEWER- Thank you, I usually have problems continuing things. It's good that you don't know where I'm headed. It makes things more fun for me and for you guys. Never know what Magneto's going to do and I can't really tell you. HEHE, enjoy.  
  
Darkstorm5000-Magneto is ruthless, but he's also human. So is Piotr, you just have to see where their human natures are going to lead them.  
  
Special to Deacon-That was terrible, I was scared out of my mind when I read that first line. Thank you for all of your support, I really appreciate that. I just want to give each character a slightly different spin off of what everyone gave me and still stay true to what I have. Keep reviewing, I love your opinions.

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## Brotherhood Boarding House ##  
  
The room was almost utterly black, thin curtains drawn against the noon sun and casting an eerie pale blue light on the two beds and the girls occupying them. The room could have belonged to a person with split personality disorder, the right half strewn with clothes and crumpled papers while the left had everything nearly perfect on every flat surface. Denise thrashed around in her bed on the right side, kicking at her sheets and flopping around before settling half hanging off the corner of her bed. Darcy tossed a pillow at her roommate and burrowed under her remaining one.

The door creaked open as Jason peeked in. "You guys alright?"

Denise sat up, half squinting, her voice crackly. "As well as can be expected. How are you?"

Jason shrugged and leaned against the inside wall. "I heal fast. Are you guys OK?"

Darcy puled the pillow from over her head and flattened it against the bed. "We're fine really although, I seem to be suffering from a case of dejavu." She gave him a pointed look.

Jason laughed and sat on the edge of Denise's bed. "I am being a bit repetitive, aren't I? Sorry, just checking. Don't want you guys to be seriously hurt."

Denise swung her legs over the side of the bed and leaned against the wall. "Don't worry about it. Besides, where are you going at this ungodly hour?"

Jason gave her a confused look. "What do you mean 'ungodly'? It's noon!"

Denise closed her eyes sleepily and muttered, "That's ungodly."

Darcy shook her head and laid down on the pillow, looking at Jason. "So where are you going all spiffed up?"

He chuckled. "Lunch with Riley. She's gonna go berserk if I miss it."

Darcy smiled. "Ahhh. The girlfriend. Well, enjoy your lunch."

Jason nodded. "Thanks." Several birds chattered outside the window, making high-pitched twittering noises.

Denise snapped open her eyes and yelled at the window, "Shut up, you stupid creme puffs! I'll mash you up for Easter!" Jason grimaced and hopped off the bed, pulling apart the curtains and opening the window. He reached a hand out the window in the direction of the tree and let out a blast of water. The birds got fully drenched and flapped off for a different singing venue. He pulled his hand back and closed the windows and curtains. Denise gave a little mock victory wave and fell over onto her bed.

Darcy laughed and Jason reached down to cup a side of her face. "You get better," he whispered. "Get some more sleep and feel better."

"Okay," she whispered back. He smiled again and made to exit the room.

Denise opened her eyes and muttered, "Hey Jase. Make sure Freddy doesn't eat all the food, OK? Next time, I'm going to wake up hungry." Jason nodded and shut the door, leaving them in the same eerie half darkness as before.

Denise stared at the door. "He is too sweet for words."

Darcy rolled over and faced the wall, wiping under her eyes. "Yeah, he is."

## The Xavier Mansion ##  
  
"Ummm. False?"

Keyaira threw a jelly bean at Ryan, laughing. "Nope. It's true. Calico cats are only female. I thought you'd know that."

Ryan scowled and threw another jelly bean at her. "I'm not exactly Catwoman..."

Keyaira cut him off, munching thoughtfully. "It'd be scary if you were."

Ryan shook his head. "OK, my turn. Uhh... I can't think of anything." Keyaira rolled her eyes and popped several jelly beans into her mouth as Ryan fumbled to find something to continue in the game. The pair was hanging out in an abandoned corner of the Rec room. Several of the New Mutants were watching cartoons crowded onto a couch and Mike was studying for a test in Algebra.

Ryan swallowed a peach jelly bean and sat up. "I got it! Some black T- shirts can give you a rash."

Keyaira snorted and picked out a watermelon jelly bean, exclaiming, "False."

Ryan smiled smugly and shook his head. "Nope, that one's a true tale. They lave behind this black fabric goop that can cause a rash on some people."

Keyaira looked slightly horrified. "Fabric goop?"

Ryan burst out laughing. "Not sticky goop, just unpleasant rashie goop."

Keyaira shrugged. "Oh that makes me feel better."

Ryan looked around, giving looks of mock disdain to the New Mutants and Mike, who was so engrossed in his Algebra text that he was sleeping on top of it. "You want to do something, get out of here? Wanna movie?"

"What???"

Ryan laughed again. "Movie," he explained. "Cinema, silver screen. Movie used as a verb. We should movie."

Keyaira snorted, smiling. "That is terrible grammar."

It was Ryan's turn to roll his eyes. "Well, I'm not exactly Lynx the Grammar Kitty."

Keyaira's smile doubled in a dopey way. "It'd be funny if you were."

"Seriously," he admonished. "Let's get the group together and movie."

Keyaira considered it and nodded. "OK, we'll do it. But later on alright? I don't want Andrew mooching off my jelly beans."

Ryan snorted. "Aren't I mooching off your jelly beans?"

Keyaira nodded. "Yeah, but you're eating the nasty kinds I don't like."

Ryan sat up in mock horror. "How dare you insult peach jelly beans!!!"

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Next will be some more fun stuff, I'm really liking fun short chapters I can update quickly for you guys. LOL, Review please and I'll get started on the next chapter...

KEEP REVIEWING AND I WILL LOVE YOU ALL FOREVER!!!

PS: Today, I realized as I was writing this chapter, that I was writing the character Ryan modeled after a guy I have a crush on with the same name. It just made me laugh as I was rereading the chapter in Quickedit.


	16. Two hours later and they're still not at...

I'm glad you all like the shorter chapters! I like them a lot too. I'm probably going to keep going with the short chapters as long as they work and keep being frequently updated. It really makes me feel good to update a chapter and see reviews. I'm a review slut, I think it happens to all authors with such loyal readers. Praise is addictive. Which also means I'll try to respond to your reviews from now on.  
  
Deacon- Yep, it's really crazy fun. My personal subtitle for this chapter was "doom movie." LOL  
  
Reikai Princess- Yeah, I hear that about crazy school. I just got out so I have time for chapters fanfiction and junk.  
  
Kitrazzle Fayn- I personally love peach jelly beans but they didn't seem like Keyaira's favorites. I might bring those up again later.  
  
Moonfire Goddess- Yeah......Pink is evil. Glad you liked the chapter.  
  
The Unkown reviewer- I already covered that short chapter dilemma. They really are more fun.  
  
Roguephoenix- Yeah, I kinda hear what you're saying about the guy you like. Unfortunately (for me), my guy has read this story and I told him to check it out online, so I'm deathly afraid he's going to put 2 and 2 together and get four. I just have to pray that he isn't that smart when I know he is. He's smarter than I am. Eeeekkkk.........  
  
Dee Saylors- I'm glad you think so. Is this fast enough for you??

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## The Xavier Mansion--- 2 hours later ##  
  
Keyaira and Ryan entered the main lobby of the mansion bickering, as they were often found to do. Ryan stomped his foot down, spitting at her. "We'd have left a lot earlier if you didn't take so long to eat frickin' jelly beans."

Keyaira snorted and flicked at one of Ryan's feline ears. "Well, you just had to brush your ears and take up bathroom time." Ryan looked down sheepishly and gripped one of his ears. Keyaira instantly noticed her mistake. She leaned her forehead on his black-clothed shoulder and whispered, "Sorry. I know it was how you were born. Feline characteristics, cats are proud. You have reason to be proud. You're beautiful."

He peered over at her, smiling crookedly. "Then it was worth all the bathroom time?" She rolled her eyes and shoved him in the shoulder. He stepped back and cowered back in mock submission. Andrew and Kitty walked by, speaking techno-babble about the coding on Kitty's portable modem.

Andrew stopped and cocked his head at Keyaira and Ryan. "Where are you two going all dressed up for fun?"

Kitty looked over as well, smiling wickedly. "Ooooh. Is this a date??"

Identical looks of disgust from Keyaira and Ryan as Keyaira exclaimed, "Ewww, please! He's like my brother. My annoying brother I can't get rid of."

Ryan lolled his head in her direction and spat, "Oh, I assure you the feeling is mutual."

Kitty laughed hysterically as Andrew asked, "So what then?"

"We were gonna ask you lot if you wanted to movie," Ryan said amiably.

"Who is in this lot?" Andrew didn't flinch at the horrible grammar but Keyaira did.

"You mean you understand that nonsense he calls grammar," she asked incredulously.

Andrew smirked, turning towards her. "Key, I read code all day. I can decipher anything."

Kitty laughed. "Oh so don't be modest."

Andrew shrugged as Mike and Rogue entered the lobby, discussing the area of a pyramid. Mike glanced around. "OK, so what's the big hullabaloo I've been left out of?"

Ryan started, but Keyaira placed a hand over his mouth. "Ryan wants to go to a movie. Want to come?"

"If it saves me from more studying, then hell yes." Mike looked positively giddy. "Who else is gonna come?"

Keyaira shrugged. "We haven't asked their Majesties yet but they'll probably want to escape. Kitty? Rogue? Want to movie?"

Kitty smirked again and nodded. "As long as you stop using that word as a verb."

Rogue scowled playfully. "Ditto."

Mike tilted his head skyward, wincing. "OK, somebody go ask the Royalties."

"Why waste the effort? Nate has good hearing and you guys are just plain yelling." Mike spun around and gasped for dramatic effect. Nathaniel and Anastacia stood on the second step, smiling wickedly.

Mike snapped his fingers and slapped his knee. "Darnit, they're onto our dastardly plan."

Ryan clapped and rubbed his hands together. "Are we ready to go?"

Keyaira smacked his shoulder. "Be patient. If you can wait two hours for me to finish some jelly beans, you can wait five more minutes for them to get they're stuff together."

Anastacia laughed and collected her sleeveless white jacket and pulled the collar up to her chin impulsively. Nathaniel laughed and did the same with his brown leather duster. Anastacia noticed his antics and collapsed against his shoulder laughing.

Rogue tugged at her own collar and glanced out the window at the darkening afternoon. "Is this like a group thing? We all have dates?" Chatter around the room stopped as each teenager looked around almost innocently.

Anastacia peeled herself from Nathaniel and hopped over to Andrew. She bent slightly and flung her arms around his neck, smiling like a fool. "OK, then I get Andrew. This studly muffin is mine for the night."

Andrew chuckled. "Studly muffin?"

Anastacia nodded vehemently. "Studly muffin."

Rogue chuckled, declaring, "Then I get Chucklebrains over here."

Everyone laughed but Mike just chuckled. "Oh, Chucklebrains. That'll strike fear into the hearts of my enemies."

Keyaira snorted. "What enemies?" She and Kitty exchanged gazes quickly, and suddenly, Keyaira was overcome with this sense of horror. She wrapped her arms tightly around Ryan's neck, declaring possessively, "Mine." Ryan laughed but Keyaira buried her head in between his neck and shoulder, whispering, "She isn't your type."

Ryan stroked her back, smiling to himself. "Thanks for the concern."

Nathaniel met Kitty's eyes and rolled his. He fell dramatically to one knee and said in a false English accent, "Lady Katherine, would you allow me to escort you to this cinematic event?"

Rogue snickered but Kitty stood up straighter and held out her hand in a regal manner. "I would gladly accept you as my escort, Nathaniel." Nathan pumped his fist and hopped up, catching her around the waist and spinning her around in the air. She shrieked and he let her down softly.

Anastacia tapped her foot impatiently. "Are we done yet children?"

Nathaniel look humbled and hung his head in mock shame. "Yes, we're done."

Mike nodded. "And we're out of here."

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## Brotherhood Boarding House ##  
  
It was official. The Blob had been kicked out of the kitchen in favor of two skinny girls digging through the fridge and pantry. He didn't quite mind but it was the principle of the thing. Todd was watching cartoons and Wanda was reading the same musty old book she had been before the battle. Seyla and Daniel also occupied the couch, watching Todd's cartoons and snuggling. A glass shattered in the kitchen and nearly two seconds later, Anne was barreling down the stairs and into the kitchen for her share of the munchies, auburn hair flapping behind her. Fred plopped into his armchair and changed the cartoons to the Fairly Oddparents, much to the disappointment of Todd. Fifteen minutes into the story line, all three girls emerged from the kitchen with drowsy and well fed looks on their faces.

Denise, ever the chipper little deviant, bounced onto the couch and jolted Dan and Seyla from their cuddling. "Kitsune," she whined, "come to the movies with us girls tonight. Sans boyfriend. We can see Troy and drool over Mr. Pitt in a leather skirt."

Seyla nodded and smiled wickedly. "You had me at movies, but leather skirt just clinched it."

Anne gave a little whoop and turned towards Wanda. "You want to come?? It'll be guaranteed almost fun."

Wanda snapped the book shut and replied simply, "Sure."

Anne did a victory wiggle and dragged Wanda out of the chair and up the stairs. "C'mon, let's get ready and go NOW." Denise shrugged and pulled Seyla up in the same way, Daniel clutching at where his girlfriend had once been. He jumped up off the couch and scrambled to the bottom of the stairs just in time to see Seyla shrug.

A blur of color and there stood Pietro, his gaze traveling up the stairs as well. "We could crash their movie. Have some fun of our own."

Daniel wrinkled his nose but Havok's voice came from the doorway of the living room. "Yeah, come on. Don't be a bummer, man. Let's go have some contraband fun."

Daniel glanced back up the stairs. "I'm not paying for movie tickets." Havok crossed his arms over his chest.

"Bring money for chocolate or sweets. But yeah, screw the tickets. That's why it's good to be friends with a delinquent, Manchester United. I never need tickets."

Pietro smiled arrogantly. "Sounds like a plan."

Havok stopped, uncrossing his arms and smacking his forehead. "But what will I wear?!?!?" Daniel burst out laughing but Pietro just shook his head.

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Amazing. It takes me two chapters to get these bums to the movies. I'm such a procrastinator. Anyway, continue reviewing, I'll continue writing. Actually, I'll keep writing if you don't review but it'll be bad writing. Tehehe. LOL, To the next chapter. Review please and thank you...


	17. Movies or just after it Aren't I a stink...

Hey everybody. It seems that all the ladies loved the idea of Troy as the featured movie. Each of you decided to drool. Ironically though, I haven't seen that movie. HEHEHE. Just made me laugh. Anyway, here it is kiddies.

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## The Bayville Mall---Two hours later ##  
  
Tenzo slouched into a wrought iron chair paired with a similar table that circled the food court. Faith leaned on his shoulders, peering very closely at him, her curtain of blonde hair blocking half of his view. "Why so low, darling? This was supposed to be a fun outing." 

Alyssa leaned on the opposite site. "Yeah, this is about gawking, not moping."

He scowled and shrugged his shoulders, both girls rising off his shoulders and standing back. "Just buzz off, OK," he sneered, folding his arms inside his jacket.

Faith shrugged and adjusted her own jacket over her wings, pointing at Tenzo to the arriving Remy and Piotr. "He's being extra grumpy. Pete, take me for ice cream? I can pay for about two dollars of it?" Always the gentlemen, Piotr offered her his arm, which she quickly wrapped both of hers around. Leaning her head against his shoulder, they walked off towards the ice cream kiosk. Alyssa gave Remy a helpless look and pointed at the defensive Tenzo, mouthing, 'Figure it out.' She stalked off towards a separate kiosk, leaving a gaping Remy in her wake.

Shrugging down into a chair across from Tenzo, he stared plaintively at his sulking teammate. When Tenzo, looked up, Remy was making a fish face at him, but when Tenzo looked back down, Remy rolled his eyes and lost the face. "Homme, what is bumming you out? You've been all depressed since we got back form Alyssa's donut run this morning."

Tenzo pulled a lumpy ball of clay from his jacket pocket and began molding it grudgingly. "It's just...... nothing," he mumbled as the clay began to take shape.

Remy smiled, realizing exactly what it was. "There's a girl involved," he said and laughed at the shifting nod Tenzo responded with. "Don't worry about it. Fate has a way of rewarding those who wait." Tenzo nodded again, still fiddling with the clay. Remy shook his head. "I'm goin' to go get you some cheese fries. That'll perk you up." Tenzo giggled but couldn't stop Remy. The clay slowly took the form of an eagle, spreading vicious talons and massive wings.

"That's beautiful! Did you just make that out of the blue??" An astonished female voice over his shoulder made Tenzo start.

When he looked up, he was consumed by those all too familiar green eyes. "Uhh yeah," he stuttered, carefully holding the eagle out to her. She gingerly reached over and placed it in her own palm. As she bent to examine it, a strand of auburn hair fell across her face, which she compulsively tucked behind her ear. As she turned her hair to examine it from a different angle, the same strand of hair fell out of it's place. Impulsively, he reached up and tucked it behind her ear. She met his gaze, both shocked at the audacity of the gesture but giggled and broke the tension.

She handed the sculpture back to him, nodding, "You're really good. Are you an artist?"

He squinted and smiled at her, still shocked that she was talking to him. "Yeah I guess I am. I never really thought about it before."

She flashed him a dazzling smile and nodded reassuringly. "You really are exceptional. Listen, I gotta go. My friends are waiting for me." She pulled a napkin and pen out of her jeans pocket and scribbled something on it. "I'm Anne, by the way."

"Tenzo," he responded bluntly. Instead of scowling or asking where it had come from, her smile doubled and she remarked, "Nice. Anyway, call me. I'd love to see some more of your work. Maybe hang out sometime." All he could do was nod dumbly as she walked away. 'My angel has a name,' he thought. As Anne walked towards a beckoning Darcy, she shook her head, shocked at her forwardness. 'I can't believe I just did that she thought.

Darcy was just as shocked as well. "He's cute. Did you give him your number?? I mean our number?" Anne nodded and Darcy crowed with glee. "Oh, that's so great. You need a guy."

"Thanks," Anne admonished and let the other girl drag her in the direction of Denise and Wanda in a spirited argument.

"I can't believe Pietro brought him here," Wanda whispered fiercely, throwing a glance over her shoulder at the smug looking Havok twenty feet away.

"The guy likes you, ya fool," Denise berated. "He's crazy about you, or haven't you noticed??"

"He's a flirt, that's all. He doesn't care about me." Her voice was tinged with sadness as she stared at her feet. From his distance, Havok noticed the change in her demeanor and straightened up, his brow furrowing.

Denise relaxed her shoulders and put a hand on one of Wanda's. "Just give the guy a chance. You never know what will happen."

"Maybe. I'll give him a chance some other time than today. I'm going home. Make sure he doesn't follow me, Dee." She stalked off, leaving a sputtering Denise in her wake.

Havok skipped over, pretending to be a school boy but failing horribly. "She hates me. She wants to use my intestines to decorate the TV room."

Denise winced at the graphic imagery but nodded. "Yeah, it looks that way."

Havok was still unfazed. "I always did fall for girls who were bad for me. Oh well. I'll see you guys bright and early tomorrow morning." He walked towards the seating area and left a still gaping Denise and Anne. He walked to the center of the court and purchased a tall hot chocolate from the vendor and did some people scouting. There were a multitude of boring flat scans, milling about like cattle, making Havok laugh as they tried to look important. One female caught his attention, wearing a distinctive white coat, her long legs bent beneath her as she lounged in one of the seats and observed the people as he had been doing. He walked over and took the seat opposite her, smiling. "Who are you waiting for, gorgeous?"

She didn't miss a beat as she met his eyes and gave him a crooked smile. "Jesus. Are you him?"

He laughed whole-heartedly. "Not quite, but I'm working on it. I'm Havok."

"Anastacia," she admitted. "My friends ditched me for a candy store."

"I think you're sweet enough to satisfy," he supplied smoothly.

"Somebody else's sugar, I'm afraid," she argued laughingly.

Havok snorted. "Don't worry. I'm canvassing for someone else's affection and it's a pretty darn big surface."

She smiled at him and nodded deeply. "Then this girl is in for trouble. You're darn charming."

He dramatically rolled his eyes. "I'm glad someone believes in me. Friends?"

"I just met you, fool." She tried to frown at him but couldn't contain her amusement.

He wagged his head at her. "Those are the best kind."

She chuckled and nodded. "Deal. I got to go. Talk to you later, handsome."

She stood and he smiled up at her. "Deal, gorgeous."

Anastacia turned and located the bickering set of Keyaira and Ryan as they argued over who was the rightful owner of a half eaten jawbreaker. Since both had taken several licks of it, neither was willing to give it up but reeling from the knowledge of the swapping saliva indirectly.

"OK," Nathaniel declared rather loudly and both paused in their squabbling. "Since you both already have taken licks of it, just throw it away and go buy a new one for each of you."

The pair exchanged looks but then Ryan shrugged. "Naw, I'm broke." Keyaira nodded emphatically and licked the jawbreaker in question poised between Ryan's fingers. He shrugged then took a lick of it himself. Every body surrounding the pair laughed uproariously, Anastacia leaning her head carefully on Nathaniel's shoulder, glancing at the other people through eyes squinting with laughter. She thought she recognized the tall figure sticking out of a group of figures but shook her head. 'It can't be him,' she reasoned and stood up straighter, wrapping an arm around Andrew's shoulders.

Across that distance, Alyssa noticed a group too bizarre to be human before it hit her. 'They're the group we taped,' she realized. 'That's the girl Pete got so steamed over.' She pulled on Remy's coat and dragged his ear next to her mouth. "We better get out of here. Now." He gave her a puzzled look but she pointed towards the group and whispered, "We don't want Petey to take a drink of something tall and blonde that isn't on Uncle Erik's menu."

Remy nodded. "Agreed," he said gravely. "But your making me miss something I wouldn't like to pass up."

Alyssa snorted and poked his shoulder. "You'll see her again. Let's split."

Remy raised his voice and the Acolytes nodded to the suggestion of departure. As they left the mall entrance, Faith bumped into a burly man and muttered a sincere, "Sorry." The man scowled and kept walking, his 12 or so friends following and mimicking the sour expression on his face.

Nathaniel looked around his rag-tag group of tired teammates. "Let's go home. I'm about to fall over." The group began moving towards the door, dangerously close to the group of scowling men.

Kitty nodded violently, walking backwards in a silly mood. "Yep, I'm about to fall on my face. On my face and through the floor!" She took a small jump backwards and knocked into the one of the pack of men. "OOOPS," she exclaimed. "I'm so sorry about that."

"I heard what you said, you dirty mutant," he growled at her. " 'Fall through the floor'? You're one of those freaks that the world should be rid of." Kitty balked, falling backwards into another man before finding shelter next to Mike.

Nathaniel stepped forward menacingly, Anastacia's arms half reaching out still as he moved away from her embrace. "She said she was sorry. Very sorry. Just back off."

"You're another one of them," another man muttered, the leader nodding smugly. "Just another freak defending his whore. Both of them, if that blonde bitch has anything to do with it." Keyaira sucked in her breath but the man didn't stand a chance. He was down on the ground, a thick bruise blooming on his left cheek, Nathaniel's arm extended.

Nathaniel turned, smiling crookedly at Anastacia. "Nobody insults my girl."

She returned the smile, walking forward to stand next to him. "You're so sweet, but I don't need people to fight my battles for me." She walked forward and met eyes with the lead thug, cocking her head to the side as she examined him. Before he could realize, she spun around, the top of her left foot connecting with his cheek bone. The man fell sputtering to the ground, Anastacia tugging down the hem of her shirt. "You're lucky I'm not wearing my steel toed boots," she warned, "Or you're brain would be a new floor cleanser."

Ryan tensed and Keyaira pressed her shoulder to his chest, whispering, "No powers." He nodded but curved his shoulders in protectively around her form.

Rogue cracked her knuckles and glanced around at the group of thugs. "This is so not what I wanted to do tonight."

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Cliffhanger, sorry! I need to celebrate the fact that my hockey team won the Stanley Cup. GO LIGHTNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!TAMPA BAY ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
This chapter is dedicated to: 

Vinny Lecavlier

Ruslan Fedotenko (he's my favorite!!)

Nikolai Khabibulin

Martin St. Louis

Brad Richards

Dave Andreychuk (Our captain!! He's been waiting 22 years for this!)


	18. Somekind of Miracle or Stronger Sex

Oh honeys! I'm so sorry if I forget to mention your characters. Seriously, I tried this new technique that I love but in the flowing, I forgot a few people. Eeek. Here you are!!

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## Where we last left off...##  
  
The thugs circled, two large men at the back cracking their knuckles ominously. Andrew took several steps backward but Mike stopped him. "Don't back down," He whispered to the smaller boy. "Don't give them the satisfaction."

Anastacia shook her head, brow furrowing. "Why are you doing this? We didn't do anything to you and you just attack. Why?"

"Because mutants are abominations in the eyes of the Lord," a weasel-like man in the back said, raising his voice so that the gathering crowd could also hear him.

Mike rolled his eyes, for once his tone serious. "So, it's a religious thing? Damnit, why is everything about Jesus?"

"Because he is the lord and savior of the human race and abhor us dirty mutants," Andrew supplied wryly.

Rogue cracked a smile. "Sounds like the same tune."

"You do not deserve Christ's love," The weasel man spat, looking down his nose at them.

"Them's fighting words," Ryan replied, giving the weasel man a cautioning look. The leader righted himself, swinging his right fist at Anastacia. She ducked the punch and smacked him palm out in the ribs. He staggered backward and the group erupted into violence. A large man dived for Kitty but ended up passing through her mid-waist. She lashed out, kicking at a massive muscled stomach. He sat up, trying to get on his feet when Nathaniel slammed a fist down hard on the back of his neck. She tried to nod a thank you but he spun, swinging a fist at an assailant behind him.

Kitty shrugged and backed away bumping into a stunned Andrew. "They seem to be ignoring us," he said, trying to keep his voice low.

"Is that a good thing??" Kitty asked, stunned as Mike was tossed out of the fray. He landed with a roll and launched himself back into the tussle. Promptly two seconds later he was tossed back out.

He stood up brushing off his shoulders, turning towards an observing Kitty and Andrew. "They seem," he said, "to be focusing mainly on Nathaniel because he's the biggest. But Anastacia is making sure they don't forget her. I think Rogue got thrown out on the other side and Keyaira and Ryan are just kicking butt from behind."

As he spoke to Andrew and Kitty, the largest man took a swing at Nathaniel only to be confronted with Keyaira and Ryan. The thug punched Ryan in the cheek while trying to kick at Keyaira. She couldn't evade it at such a close distance but found herself swept up in a blur of color, thin arms around her waist. 'Some kind of miracle,' her mind registered. Her miracle stopped underneath a nearby stairwell, placing her back on the tile and stepping back. 'Wait, stepping back?'

A thin teenage boy gave her a perplexing look. "You should be more careful."

He turned away but she reached out, still in a daze. "Wait, who are you? Why did you save me?"

The teen glared back at her and Keyaira felt as though she had seen that glare before. "That guy would have cracked a bunch of your ribs. You can't help your friends if you're in a body cast."

"I can't help them if I'm over here," she almost yelled back, frustration rising.

He sucked in his breath, shocked at her tone and she felt as if her ribs had been cracked. "Just forget it," he muttered.

"Thank you," she said quickly. "Will I be seeing you again?"

"If you get in trouble," he replied with a tiny smile. "Then it shouldn't be too long of a wait." She couldn't help but be flirty but still felt out of place.

"I'm Pietro," he blurted out, back towards her.

"I'll keep that in mind," she said softly as he took off becoming only a blur of color. When he was gone from sight, she wheeled around, focusing back on the brawl at hand. Ryan staggered backwards, Kitty and Mike catching his bruised and slightly bloody form. Now only Nathaniel and Anastacia were left, fighting off the five largest of the goons. Four of the men were focusing on Nathaniel, the last trying to overpower Anastacia but failing until he wrapped both hands around her neck. She squirmed but could not get free, the man grinning maliciously.

"No!" Nathaniel tried to come to her rescue but was covered in a dog pile of male bodies. Anastacia sucked breath in through her nose and lifted both arms calmly. The man cocked hi head in confusion and the blonde took the moment to ram her elbows down on the insides of his. His arms buckled and he staggered forward a step. Taking nature's advantage, she rammed her knee to his groin and slammed a palm into his chest. He fell first to his knees then backwards as she spun around and rushed at the pile of men covering Kaiser. She grasped the man closest to the top by the neck and threw him backwards. She would have done the same to all of them but Nathaniel flung his arms back and the rest flew back in a similar method as the first.

Anastacia paused to rub at her neck through the high collar of her shirt, Nathan panting as he gave her a concerned once over. "You OK?"

"Peachy keen," she responded hoarsely. From behind the pair, the remaining conscious thugs were each gathering a piece of furniture from the food court.

"Guys, watch out!!" Kitty and Keyaira screamed at the same time, not realizing the synchronicity. Each thug tried to slam the furniture down on Anastacia and Nathaniel but when it was an inch above Nathaniel's head, each piece crumpled into an amorphous ball. Now the thugs really were frightened, each trading horrified glances and staggering backwards.

"And that," Nathaniel smiled, "is why females are the stronger sex." He gave a little bow in Anastacia's direction and she brushed it off with a modest gesture.

"Who are you with," she demanded of the closest man.

"Fff- Friends of Humanity," he stuttered, scrambling back farther.

"Good," she said, voice husky. "Now sleep." She spread out her fingers, each man falling under the weight of her telekinesis on their bodies. Mike mocked applause as the teens regrouped around Nathaniel and Anastacia.

"Well done, grasshoppers," Ryan muttered in good humor through his split lip and black left eye.

"We need to get out of here before the news shows up," Nathaniel said tiredly.

Keyaira surveyed the damage quickly. "The news is going to come to this??"

Rogue nodded. "They always show up when it's a conflict with mutants. Somebody is going to say some mutants caused some problems and the news won't be far behind." Everyone nodded, except for Ryan who laid his head on Keyaira's shoulder. They picked their way through the bodies and crumpled metal, Anastacia and Nathaniel the last to leave the mess.

"You did good," Nathaniel whispered to Anastacia.

Leaning her head on his shoulder, she whispered back, "You were great. Hey, can I talk to you later? I had the worst feeling of dejavu tonight." He nodded, unknowingly wrapping a possessive arm around her waist. She ignored it and followed everyone else home.

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I'm sorry if it took me way too long, but I had a horrible case of writer's block on this story and instead churned out five chapters of another story. That story is much more silly or will be much more silly. Review, please and thank you. 


	19. The phone call

Sorry it took me so long to update. I had the idea, just not the drive to write it down. As we read, I'm cracking down on my next idea. Enjoy, tiny chipmunks. Enjoy and review.

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One a.m. The phone rang and Erik Lensherr compulsively picked it up.

"Magnus, baby," a slick female voice chided. "Seen the news lately, darling?"

"Yes," he responded, recognizing the voice. "Little fight between some mutants and the Friend of Humanity. The mutants were a few of Charles' new acquisitions and two of his regulars."

"Did you hear about the collateral damage? Crumpled wrought iron furniture? That's a pretty powerful telekinetic you let slip through your grasp." The woman on the other end was subtly mocking him.

"It wasn't my choice to let her go. I struck a deal and I won't go back on my word."

The woman clicked her tongue. "Seems to me that you would have his loyalty if you just kept her close."

"And force her to attack her uncle?" Erik scoffed, glaring at the receiver. "I refuse to sink that low."

"Whatever you say hot stuff. But when the storm rolls around, you're going to wish you had all of those girls on your side and not just three."

"What do you have planned?" He was supremely curious.

She laughed. "Oh, it's not what I have planned but what the world will finally do to those so loyal to it. Their people will reject them and I just wish that they had somewhere safe to go."

"I don't understand why you keep contacting me," he replied, bewildered and sinking into a high backed chair.

"Because you alone have gained the sight to see them. That Professor doesn't have a clue for all his great power and prowess. Of the two of you, only you can see what's going on. Look for the sign on the horizon, the burning symbol of the pain that mortals have inflicted on us. Don't forget." The phone clicked off and all he heard was a dull tone declaring the line dead. Reaching out, he flicked on the TV just to hear the report reiterated by the same reporter.

"And again, there has been a conflict between a group of mutants and humans at the Bayville Mall tonight," a pretty blonde reporter declared. "Several bystanders described that the human group seemed normal enough, but the mutant group had several distinguishing features. The tallest female wore a sleeveless white trench-coat and was said to be the perpetrator behind some wrecked property. One other female had white streaks in her hair that many teenagers present said that 'she looked familiar but they couldn't name her.' Bayville police are on the look for these teens for questioning. That's the latest at the latest. I'm Trish Tillby, signing off."

He turned of the TV and shook his head muttering, "The sign on the horizon..."

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Element of mystery. And plot. This actually ties into my plot. JOY!! 


	20. Pride, Punishment, and Psylocke

Yes, I know the last chapter was excruciatingly short but it was necessary to be that short. Not only does it help with my plot devices (for selfish reasons) it gives you all an update that is easy to read and a good piece of sustenance until my next update.  
  
And no, Daniel and Seyla did not disappear! They just took a detour. A detour that I created and goes well with the plot devices. sticks tongue out at reviewers briefly

HOPEFULLY THIS WILL BE A LONG ENOUGH CHAPTER FOR ALL OF YOU!!!

There is some translated text in this chapter. The translations follows directly after in double parenthesis. (( ))

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## Brotherhood Boarding House- the next morning ##  
  
Jason and Darcy were the first ones up that morning, each claiming some breakfast and settling on Teen Titans as the morning cartoon. Slowly but surely, the rest of the Brotherhood excluding Daniel and Seyla trickled in and took seats on the couches or directly in front of them. Havok even swooped in, munching on a breakfast burrito as he took his usual place in the window.

Anne stretched, taking a silent inventory of those present. "Anyone seen Kitsune and Dan?" She glanced at Jason for answers but he shook his head.

"They ditched us last night when the guys ambushed us," Denise said groggily, pushing her hair out of her face.

Darcy stood, collecting several dishes from her couch-mates. "I hope nothing happened to them."

"You have to that nothing bad happened, Darce. Good things happen too." The group spun around to the doorway of the living room to see Seyla and Daniel there, their clothes slightly torn with odd stains in hot pink, lime green, red, and black.

Daniel was smiling like a fool. "Before you ask," he cut them off and tossed a can of spray paint to a gaping Lance. "It's a long story of how and why, but we just added some graffiti to Bayville High School."

Seyla giggled as the group gaped at them. "Well, what is it?"

Havok wiped a fake tear from his eye. "I'm so proud of you kids." Their smiles doubled as the took off upstairs to change.

Jason shook his head but caught sight of Darcy's massive smile. "It was kind of cool," he relinquished.

## Xavier mansion- around the same time (which is about 10 a.m.) ##  
  
"You were utterly reckless! You exposed yourself to a large group of humans!" Logan paced back and forth as he berated the line of teenagers in Charles Xavier's favorite study. Professor Xavier himself sat behind the desk, watching the surroundings. "You could have brought the news cameras back here! Almost fifty people saw your little tussle and they saw your faces very clearly!!"

He stopped in front of Rogue who quickly switched her gaze from straight ahead to down at the ground. "As if you weren't recognizable enough, now everyone in Bayville knows to look out for you!"

He took two steps forward and peered menacingly at Keyaira. "Five people say that in the middle of the fight, you just disappeared, Creed. Poof!" He flashed his hands and startled her. "Vanished!"

He completely bypassed Ryan, Andrew, Mike, and Kitty to stand in front of a very stoic Nathaniel. "You were very lucky that no civilians were caught in the crossfire. And you were damn lucky that your powers didn't manifest!!!"

Nathaniel bit his tongue to keep from responding as Logan strode to the end of the row and stood in front of Anastacia. "I thought you would know better," he chided, shaking his head. "I'd burn that damn coat of yours if your Uncle hadn't hid it. You had to show off, you damn arrogant daughter of a Marko!! You could have just walked away! But no, crumpled iron just fit with the décor better!"

He glared forcefully and she flinched when she met his eyes. He stalked away from the lineup, pacing in a tighter circuit in front of the Professor's desk. "I cannot believe you all did this! Everybody except Kitty and Rogue, you have an extra session in the Danger Room on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the morning and you have to clean up the mess you made in the drive way. Nathaniel, your firearms are hereby confiscated except for outside sessions. Anastacia, you may go to class but only to class and you cannot wear your coat for the next month."

The two oldest of the teens assembled gasped, Nathan taking a step forward, his face contorting in rage. Anastacia, still wide-eyed in her own shock, held her hand out in front of his chest. "Don't, Calina," she whispered, even her voice sounding weak. He stepped backward, his eyes still slightly glazed with rage.

Logan continued pacing in his tight circle, pursing his lips. "Kitty, Rogue, you two have laundry and dish duty for the next two weeks. For every meal and no skimping. You're all dismissed. Don't disappoint us further."

"Sounds like you're pretty easy to disappoint," a woman at the doorway called, her voice tinged with a British accent. The group turned to see a man and a woman smiling expectantly in the doorway. The man was dressed in jeans, a burgundy T-shirt, and a large brown overcoat, his short blonde hair collecting bits of sunlight. The woman was dressed a bit less conservatively in a blue jeans skirt, black mary janes, white knee socks, and a black tank top. Her skin was a light almond color, her brown eyes taking an almond shape and her hereditary black hair intertwined with chunky streaks of purple.

"That's my hair," Keyaira squeaked in amazement, pointing.

The girl in the doorway shrugged. "I'll share it with you?"

Keyaira giggled but scooted to the side as the Professor tapped on the small of her back. "This is the student you informed me of Warren?" Xavier rolled up to the blonde man, gesturing to the woman.

"Yes, this is Betsy," he responded, gesturing to her.

"Elizabeth Braddock," she corrected, extending a slender hand to the Professor, which he shook kindly. "My brothers called me Psylocke."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," he nodded before turning his attention to Warren. "There's someone, I'd like you to meet."

He motioned to Anastacia, who looked meekly back at Logan before steeping up next to her uncle. "This is my niece, Anastacia. Anastacia, this is Warren Worthington. The other students call him Angel." He smiled at the mention of his codename and shook Anastacia's hand in a friendly way.

Nathaniel stepped forward and held out his hand. "Nathaniel Washington."

Warren shook his hand as well. "Yes, the Professor told me about you. I hear you have wings too, Kaiser?"

He nodded begrudgingly. "Not the same kind, but no one's ever truly alike."

Betsy giggled and caught Nathan's attention. Her eyes widened and she dropped her mouth in shock. He flashed a handsome smile and shook her hand. I

n the background, Kitty Pryde bit the inside of her lip and crossed her arms over her chest.

Rogue leaned over and whispered in her ear. "He's a player, Kit. I told you not to get attached."

Kitty shrugged in frustration. "He seemed different." Rogue rolled her eyes and faced forward. Logan moved up next to the Professor, nodding curtly to Warren and his new guest.

The Professor turned his head slightly and beckoned to Keyaira. "I believe that you can share a room with Miss Creed, if that's alright."

When both girls nodded, he smiled. "If that's settled, you are all dismissed." The teens filed out of the office and dispersed, Keyaira leading Betsy off toward the room they now shared. Ryan, Mike, and Andrew took off towards the kitchen for breakfast as Nathan, Anastacia, Rogue, and Kitty went down towards the living room.

As soon as they entered the living room however, Bobby, Ray, and Sam hopped off the couch and surrounded them. "Could one of you drive us to the library??" Bobby's eyes widened as he stared at the two oldest teens expectantly.

"Can't you go to the library here?" Nathaniel asked back sourly.

"It doesn't have the books we need for Miss Munroe's botany report," Sam replied, pushing back an offended Ray.

"I guess I can borrow the X-Van. Besides, I need to study a bit too." Anastacia shrugged and pointed at the door. "Be there in five minutes."

The boys all cheered and bounced toward the door. The rest of the group took the abandoned seats on the couch, Kitty elbowing Nathaniel to scoot over.

Anastacia pulled on a black windbreaker and called up the massive stairs. "I'm taking the guys to the library in the van. Be back at about one." She collected her own green notebook and was halfway through the door when she heard a hurried yelling in German and then was confronted with a small cloud of sulphuric gas.

"Anyone more room left in the van?" a harried Kurt asked. "I need more studying."

Anastacia brushed herself off but nodded. "OK, just lay off the German swear words."

As they exited the mansion, he gave her a funny look. "Sie sprechen Deutsches?" ((You speak German?))

She nodded, twirling the keys on her fingers. "Ja aber nicht das gut. Es war nur meine vierte Sprache." ((Yes, but not that well. It was only my fourth language.))

He stared at her wide-eyed. "Wieviele Sprachen sprechen Sie?" ((How many languages do you speak?))

She paused to mentally count. "Sieben gehend auf acht. Ich erlerne Chinesen im Augenblick." ((Seven going on eight. I'm learning Chinese right now.))

He continued staring at her as she rounded the van and got in the driver's side. "Scheiße," he muttered.

As he fell into the passenger's side, she looked at him sternly. "Don't swear."

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Sorry it took so long for an update. I just had to get out of my rut. ReadReview


	21. Library Matchmaker

The X-van pulled into an empty parking space at the Bayville public library, the boys in the back seat flying forward an inch as Anastacia slammed on the breaks.

"Damn," Ray exclaimed. "I thought you could drive!"

She shrugged it off, pulling her notebook out of the console and pocketing the keys. "Be back at the van by twelve-thirty or I'm leaving you and you can walk back."

The boys nodded and leapt out of the Van as Anastacia locked the doors. They walked in as a group but scattered a moment later, Sam taking an available computer as Kurt began digging through the card catalog. Ray confiscated a table as Bobby stared at the line of encyclopedias.

Anastacia paused next to Sam's chair for a moment, surveying the three other boys. "Make sure they behave, Guthrie," she whispered, patting his shoulder with a gloved hand.

He nodded and she took off towards the foreign language section, stopping as she noticed a large art book displayed in front of the row of shelves. She flipped one of the glossy pages and stared at the line drawing of a pair of dancers. Impulsively, she reached up and touched at the dove pendant under her shirt, shrugging off the urge to rip the page to pieces in pain. She buried herself in Chinese grammar books, glancing up as one of the books fell of the shelf next to her.

A plump blonde rushed around the edge of the shelf, quickly placing the book back in its slot. "Sorry," she whispered apprehensively before rushing back to the other side of the shelf.

She nearly collided with Denise who was blowing bubbles with her bubble gum in boredom. "Remind me why we're here again, Darce."

Darcy rolled her eyes as she led the brunette over nearly five levels, pointing at the metal display cases. "Free cartoons. And classic movies."

Denise quickly inhaled the swelled bubble. "Really? You think they have 'Guys and Dolls'?"

Darcy nodded in a slightly condescending manner. "Good chance," she muttered, shooing the other girl down the aisle. Once she was satisfied Denise was totally engrossed, she took off towards the nonfiction, moving only two aisles before she slammed into a boy her age. Both went flying, Darcy landing jarringly on her behind, an encyclopedia falling onto her shoulder. Another crushed her hand, making her shriek and swear.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," the boy stuttered, repeating himself as he tried to collect tall of the encyclopedias. "God, I'm so sorry."

Darcy looked up, catching sight of wayward brown hair and apologetic blue eyes. She handed him the volume that had landed on her hand, muttering dumbly, "It's OK." She cringed though, as her bruised knuckle over-extended.

"No, it's not OK. I'm sorry, I have this report and my partner is doing no work," he rambled stood and held out a hand to her. She took it hesitantly and let him pull her to her feet. When she was upright, he continued stacking the encyclopedias before standing straight and favoring her with an uneasy smile.

"How's your hand?" His blue eyes were searching but sweet.

"Fine," she assured, slightly cradling her hand. "I'm Darcy, by the way," she blurted out.

"Bobby," he supplied. "Nice to drop a reference book on you." She giggled as he bent and picked up the stack of books. He wobbled for a minute, so she held a hand up to the books and placed the other on his shoulder to steady him. He stopped wobbling but blushed at her close proximity.

"Thanks," he mumbled. "You know, there's a water fountain over there. Maybe we could run water over your hand. It looks like it hurts."

Darcy sputtered, her head buzzing. "Sure." He walked off in the general direction, Darcy following behind him. Bobby stopped at the table where Ray was studying.

They fell with a thud, jarring Ray out of reviewing his notes. As he looked up, all he saw was the back end of Bobby leading a blonde girl towards the water fountain. He shrugged, diving through the encyclopedias only to find that Bobby had forgotten the B volume.

"Idiot," he growled, pushing his chair away from the table and stalking towards the reference section. He snatched up the B volume and exited the aisle, his shoulder colliding with that of a girl approximately his height.

He kept walking until he heard a disdainful voice call out to him. "Usually you say 'I'm sorry' or 'Excuse me', jackass." He turned, his face a mixing ground for rage and shock. The girl he had bumped into was giving him a vicious glare, three bronze braids falling in front of her disdainful blue eyes.

"You could say 'Excuse me' too," he replied.

"You bumped into me!" She stalked forward, inches from his face.

"Yeah, well you started all of this!" Ray felt like screaming at her but kept his voice to a loud whisper.

"Jeez, you have an anger problem." She turned on her heel and took off down the row of books.

"The same could be said about you," he replied in a hurried whisper, following her.

She spun, her eyes wide. "Why are you following me?!?!?"

"I'm not following you!" His voice got a twinge louder and an array of silencing noises came from the front desk. He reached down and found the B volume. "I'm looking for this," he whispered back, brandishing the book.

She made a guttural noise of frustration and stormed further down the aisle. Ray compulsively stalked after her. She pointed at him, accusing. "Now you are following me!! Why are you following me??"

"I don't know." He plucked up a English to Greek dictionary and waved that at her. "To get this!"

She gave him a quizzical look. "You speak Greek?"

"No," he relinquished. "I'm following you and I don't know why."

"I don't know whether to be freaked out or feel complimented."

"Complimented," he mumbled. "You're beautiful."

She stared back in shock. "What do they call you at the insane asylum?"

He chuckled. "Patient 25Q. But the other crazys call me Ray. How about you?"

She smiled. "Josephine. My crazys call me Josie."

Ray held out a hand. "Can I get you a soda?"

Josie nodded. "As long as it's orange and as long as you're paying." He dropped the two books and began whispering with Josie about Bobby's incompetence.

She giggled which sent up another array of silencing noises from someone at the desk. No, not someone from the desk. From Sam!! Sam shook his head, continuing the search on the computer. From across the terminal, he heard a girl smacking on some type of candy. 'A lollipop,' he realized.

He leaned to the side, ready to reprimand the person making so much noise when he stopped. A beautiful girl was licking a lime green lollipop and idly staring at the screen of her computer. She met his gaze, her green contacts looking out of place for some reason.

"Ummmm," he stuttered. "Excuse me. You're making a bit of noise. I was wondering if you could, ummm-"

"You want me to stop with my lollipop?" She cut him off, wrapping the candy up in a scrap of paper. "Sorry, I just didn't have any lunch."

"Well, a lollipop ain't lunch."

She giggled, looking embarrassed. "No, I guess it isn't. I'm just broke."

Something sprung loose in Sam Guthrie and he stood up, smiling down at her. "I could treat you to a bag of chips and a candy bar if you'd share them with me?"

She returned the smile, standing so that they were near the same height. "I'd love to. I'm Alyssa, by the way."

"Sam," he supplied, going around the end of the terminal to stand next to her, holding out his arm. "May I escort you?"

She looked absolutely entranced, taking his arm. "Of course." As they walked out of the library, Kurt was rushing over to the foreign language section where Anastacia had buried herself in books.

"That girl from the Brotherhood is here!" Kurt waved his notebook to get her attention but she barely looked up.

"Which one?"

He looked like he was going to have a coronary. "The one who screwed up the driveway!"

She glanced up, hair tucked in odd ways and a pencil behind each ear. "Wasn't she the one who was also flirting with you??" He sputtered indignantly but didn't respond.

"Don't tell me about it. You go talk to the girl." She returned to making notes from the book she held, ignoring him as he stared out of the end of the row towards the section where Denise was tearing through videocassettes. He took a deep breath and paced for several minutes.  
  
## The Xavier institute- - same time ##  
  
Ryan wandered around the front lawn of the Institute, staring at the mess the latest battle had created. 'Geez, I hope that girl knows better now,' he thought, kicking at the closest gnarled mass of concrete. Suddenly, he felt a sharp tug on his tail, pulling him back several steps. He spun, his nose and granite ears twitching as he smelled for his offender. The bushes twittered and he pounced, pinning his offender in the lush grass behind the trimmed bushes. He was careful of his claws but as his eyes focused he felt like scratching the person beneath him. Keyaira was smiling broadly back at him, her hair spread in the grass.

"Keya, I could have hurt you!" He scowled at her but didn't move, his tail switching furiously behind him in the air.

Her smile faded as she tried to sit up, only to be forced back into the grass. "Don't call me that Ry! Besides, it was more fun than just calling your name." She giggled again, her brown eyes mischievous.

He rolled off so he wasn't pinning her anymore, lying in the grass and staring up at the sky. "Aren't you supposed to be doing laundry or something?"

She sat halfway up, picking stray bits of dried grass off his chest. "That's Kitty and Rogue. All we have to do is fix the driveway and not go anywhere."

She traced spirals on his chest, her nails scraping gently. He restrained the urge to purr. 'I'd never live it down.' "Yet," he replied, "Here we are. Not in the mansion like good little kiddies."

She leaned in, scrunching her nose playfully. "Kitties?"

"Kiddies," he annunciated. "With a D."

She giggled at his frustration, laying her cheek on his chest, just above his heart. "Aren't we awful rule-breakers?" Her voice was still slightly drowsy with sleep.

"Awful," he whispered back. They lay that way, staring at the clouds for several moments.

"I was supposed to give you a message," Keyaira whispered, her fingers still idly drawing circles in his abs. He tried to feign interest but even his higher brain functions couldn't get past how close she was.

"Tabby wanted to meet you at about two," she continued. "But I don't have a watch and I forgot what time it was when I left the mansion."

He didn't move a muscle but it felt like he had to do a gymnastic routine just to speak. "We'll check later. I don't feel like moving."

She sat up, hair draping over one side of her face. "A cat nap?"

He reached over and pushed her back to her former position. "I'm too tired to dispute that horrible, horrible pun." The stared back up at the sky and forgot about the time entirely.

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Hope you guys liked it. It seems long enough to be considered a real update. So Review. 


	22. Girls

Kurt continued pacing hurriedly, stalking past a tacit and unconcerned Anastacia. After several minutes of this, he crept to the edge of the aisle and peeked his head out to stare at the petite brunette before resuming pacing. Anastacia snapped shut her book on Japanese verbs and jabbed Kurt in the ankle with it.

"What?!" He nearly yelled at her, pulling his foot out of the vicinity of where she sat cross-legged on the carpet.

"Why," she questioned him, voice solid, "Won't you stop wandering around like a chicken about to clutch?"

"Clutch?"

"Lay eggs," she supplied quickly, her voice growing testy.

Kurt made a rude noise. "I'm not going to lay eggs," he assured her. "But I am wondering-"

"Why you don't go talk to her?" she cut him off irritably. "Such a good question. I suggest you do. If you still need to think about it some more, go do it some place else. Your pacing is rather annoying." Her voice rose in a vicious whisper, her white gloved hand still clasped around the spine of the book reaching towards him.

Before Kurt could realize it, she had used the strategically placed book to propel him out of the aisle. He stumbled, drawing several stares. He dismissed them with a polite smile. He turned a glare on Anastacia, but she was already engrossed in her book. Turning his attention away from her, he scanned the library for the petite girl in question. 'She's my height,' he realized, unable to find her. Suddenly, he spotted her nestled among the video tapes and smacking on baby blue bubble gum. Without the pretense of surprising her, he walked down the aisle and noticed the stack of video tapes positioned at her elbow. He smiled to see there were classic cartoons, and old Christmas special and a 3-tape set of Gone with the Wind. She was cradling one video to her chest, so he couldn't make out the title. He tapped her shoulder cautiously, jumping when she did.

"Oh, sorry," she admonished, setting the video she had been holding tightly on top of the stack.

"It's all right, I didn't mean to frighten you."

"Not frighten so much as startle. Did you want to get past me or look at this section?"

Kurt stared at her blankly. "You don't remember me?"

She shook her head, eyes growing wide. "No, can't say I do. Should I?"

'Damn, the image inducer,' he remembered with a start. "Let's just say," he whispered, "I'm usually much more colorful. How do you feel about the color blue?"

Denise sputtered, looking him up and down. "I think I like it better than this look."

"You being only of the only people to think so," he muttered. "You're Denise, right?"

"So my cousin tells me so," she responded quickly.

"That was really sweet of you," he whispered. "Calling the mansion. Not many people would have the decency to do that."

"No," she replied, rolling her eyes in self loathing. "They would have had the self-restraint to control their powers. I was being an idiot."

"We could help you, at the mansion," he interjected absently.

"I won't leave my cousin. And I don't think our teaching philosophies will mesh. Mutant freedom not oppression, and all that jazz." She collected her tapes, staring him down as he continued to block her path.

"You call me when you change your mind then," he responded, stepping aside to allow her to pass.

She stopped, directly in front of him and within a very close proximity. "You call me. I called you last time. It's supposed to be your move." She stalked past him, her video stack resting on her hip as she made her way to check out. Kurt's tail impulsively twitched, sending three videos off the shelf. He muttered several curses before bending to pick them up and replace them on the shelf. As he peeked out of the aisle, he noticed bitterly that Bobby was still chatting with the same brunette girl as before. A quick check on the vending machines found both Ray and Sam in heavy conversation with a different girl. Scowling and feeling rather vindictive, he found Anastacia and told her he'd teleport home.

"The other guys are walking home," he informed her with a sinister smile. She simply nodded and piled her hair back on top of her head. Ducking into the bathroom, he teleported to Gutbomb and ordered a massive plate of curly chili fries. He sat down at his preferred table and ate several before a jovial voice broke his sulking.

"Having girl troubles, buddy?" He looked up and was met by another teenage boy holding an identical order of food.

"How could you tell?" His voice had no energy in it and sounded very surreal.

The boy sat down across from Kurt, his blue eyes dancing with mirth. "Because every time this girl throws me through a window, I feel an insatiable need to drown my sorrows in curly chili fries."

"She throws you through a window?" Kurt stared incredulously at the boy as he stuffed a fry into his mouth.

"She's a real special girl," he assured.

"I'll bet," Kurt said, his voice growing a bit lighter. "I'm Kurt, by the way."

"I'm trouble," the other teen replied. "But my friends call me Havok. Right before they scream, 'Oh my God, he's dropped his pants!'"

Kurt snorted helplessly in laughter as the other boy smiled widely before continuing. "So what's so special about your girl, Kurt?"

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**## Sorry it took so long. Have been having no inspiration. Thanks to the hurricanes, it's coming back. I'm in FL, experiencing the 4th hurricane in so short a time. It's crazy but it gives me time to write. Time for a shameless plug. Read my 'Guess they forgot me here' if you liked the X2 movie. I'd also love feed back on my Crow story, 'Elements of Destruction'. Sorry again it took so long, and is so horribly short. ##**


	23. Family

Ryan was awoken by several sharp pokes to his rib cage. He ignored them, realizing it was just Keyaira being fidgety. The girl was not deterred however and dug her whole fist into his stomach, making him sit up in shock.

"Cruel," he muttered in her direction, throwing her a sullen glance where she still lounged in the grass.

"You're probably late," she reminded him, picking a piece of grass out of her hair. "To meet Tabby. Or did you forget?"

"I forgot," he admitted.

"Well than go find her. I'm going to head back to the mansion. I need to clean up my room for my new roommate."

"Yeah, yeah. See ya at dinner," he said noncommittally, standing and brushing himself off. He ignored her lazy yawn and pushed aside the shrubbery that lined the main drive. He walked just to the side of the mangled concrete, internally wondering how they were supposed to fix the mess. When he reached the front of the main building, he swung his path to the left. Off to the left sat the garage and tool sheds. One of the doors was open, a tarp carefully positioned over Anastacia's newly reacquired motorcycle. Past the garage was the abandoned patio and pool and just beyond that, the woods where the students might hide themselves for studying, training, or darker forces. He walked, listening as several squirrels chattered and a hedgehog burrowed under a massive fallen tree. No, not a hedgehog. A badger. Some instinct made Ryan tighten up, his claws unsheathing from once harmless fingertips. He closed his eyes, inhaling the thick smell of rotting wood, a sharp tang to mark the position of the badger, and a light scent for the squirrels. Suddenly, a smell sweeter and thicker assaulted his sensitive nose. Some buried instinct told him the smell was of rotting flesh but his rational brain won out quickly. Coconut. He opened his eyes and saw nothing, taking several careful steps forward and turning around. Tabitha was smiling at him, her hands on her hips.

"You're only ten minutes late," she scolded, sauntering past him. Again, his instincts screamed and he sneezed violently.

"Poor kitty," she cooed playfully. "Are you allergic to me?"

"Your perfume," he said. And then sneezed again.

Tabby dropped her usual playful smile and sniffed at her wrist as Ryan sneezed yet again. "It's just coconut."

"I don't think my nose can take that," he said, tapping his nose. And then sneezing.

"I'll be sure to give it a toss when I get home then."

"At the Brotherhood house?" He asked, pausing between sneezes to stare at her.

"No way," she snapped quickly. "I have an apartment downtown."

"Oh," he said softly. There was an awkward silence, broken only by Ryan's sneezing.

"Look," she explained, her voice rather urgent. "Since the day I was born until the day I die, the only side I'm on is my own. That's the way it works best."

Ryan sniffed, wiping his nose with a sleeve. "I used to think that. It got pretty lonely."

"I like being alone," she said defensively, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Whatever," he said pointedly before sneezing rapidly twice. "Why did you want to see me?"

Tabby hugged herself unconsciously. "You just seem pretty out of place here. I was wondering why you stayed around."

Ryan thought for a second, wanting to give her a truthful answer. The pictures of his old life flashed before his eyes, memories stinging viciously. He flinched but a newer memory replaced the others. His first night at the mansion, standing in front of the other students and feeling exposed. Until Nathaniel had playfully punched him, treated him like a brother who was only momentarily lost. Mike's continual joking and Andrew's shyness, broken only by his avid news of a new invention. Keyaira laying in the grass with him and talking about jelly beans. Anastacia's helpful smile and the way she loved to play the mother. Cassidy's total loyalty and trust as only a child can give. Their respective faces flashing before his eyes, each of them smiling and laughing, not at him for the first time in his life.

"I have a family," he said softly. "For once in my life, I have people who care about me as much as their flesh and blood. I have something to stick around for. I have a side to fight on."

Tabby wasn't shocked but she nodded slowly all the same. "Well, when you feel like a change, I have a position open for you on my side," she offered, turning her back on him before he could respond.

"How do I know you won't give it away?" His voice was sincere but not biting.

Tabby jerked, cringing visibly. "You always have a space on my side. I promise." She dashed off, moving quickly through the woods and scaring off the badger.

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No, I'm not dead. But I am lazy on topof being very busy. Updates of my life (not that any of you would care): no boyfriend, birthday coming closer, too many fanfics out, read several terribly brutal animes and now am more twisted than usual, no boyfriend and a debate competition coming closer. 


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